Self-Recovery
by lesbianbey
Summary: Fed up with Chloe's destructive behavior, Joyce signs her up for weekly therapy sessions with Dr. Christine Keller — a psychologist who actively helps people by getting to the root of the problem. Chloe starts opening up every week, revealing her deepest insecurities, fears, issues, and weekly drama. (part one to the forgiveness series)
1. Prologue

**title** : self-recovery

 **summary** : Fed up with Chloe's destructive behavior, Joyce signs her up for weekly therapy sessions with Dr. Christine Keller — a psychologist who actively helps people by getting to the root of the problem. Chloe starts opening up every week, revealing her deepest insecurities, fears, issues, and weekly drama. (chloecentric — amberprice)

 **notes** : Welcome to my first LiS fanfic! (ok, to be honest, this is my first because I've been working on this as a NaNoWriMo entry and yes I did write something else but I wrote this story and wrote a chasefield twoshot in between so yes it is the first). When I watched several LPs of LiS and LiSBtS, I fell in love with the lore, the characters, and Arcadia Bay in general. But most of all, I fell for Chloe Price. Plus, that scene where Chloe and Rachel have a "therapy session" inside the car inspired me. thus, this fic was born.

Enough dawdling. I hope y'all enjoy. It's gonna be a helluva doozy. (also I stayed away from cringeworthy words like amazeballs and wowsers...i'm sorry but my black ass wasn't wid it. I kept hella tho.)

* * *

The last thing Chloe Price expected in her young life was to get expelled from Blackwell—no, Blackhell Academy but when she was called in for an 'important' meeting with Rachel, her mom, and Rachel's parents, she knew playing hooky the previous day and causing a wild forest fire would have its consequences. Anyways, Chloe was on probation due to her delinquent behavior.

She had just cleaned out her locker and is already a few feet away from her mom and David when she notices that they've been having a deep conversation. Whatever the fuck it is, Chloe knows she's in deep shit with her mother, and knowing Douche David he would have a lot to say on the matter. However, the last thing Chloe would ever do is listen to David and his shitty 'advice' no matter what her mother says.

"Well, it's about time!" Chloe instantly rolls her eyes the minute she hears his voice.

"Don't even start with me, David. I'm not in the mood."

"I've had enough of your attitude," David argues at her, with a sharp glare. "You just got kicked out of school and you're acting like you don't even care!"

"Because I _don't_! What makes you think I care that I got kicked out some artsy-fartsy school that I never even liked, at the prime end of the year?" Chloe argues back. It's only May, the beginning of May, and the end of the semester was only weeks away for Chloe to enjoy the last few weeks of Blackhell before she makes a plan to run away - far away - from Arcadia Bay with Rachel.

"Only losers get kicked out of school!"

"Oh, so now I'm a loser? I don't think some jobless dickhead should even be talking about being a loser—"

" _Enough_!" Joyce has reached her breaking point with the both of them. "That's enough, Chloe." She should've saw this coming, to be honest, but she honestly thought somewhere, along the way, Chloe would eventually warm up to David. But she never did, and most of it is because of her father dying and her best friend Max moving away around the same time. David had suggested it earlier, but now Joyce sees it as the only solution to get her old daughter back. "Getting expelled from school, sneaking out doing god knows what...what happened to my daughter?"

Chloe laughs bitterly. "Your daughter left once you decided to date this sorry excuse of a man."

"Well, this sorry excuse of a man is moving in with us, and starting next week, you're gonna see a therapist."

"What?" Chloe's day just keeps getting worse and worse. She initially thought getting expelled was bad but hearing that this douchebag is moving in? And that she has to go to some shrink that won't even help her? "Neither of those are happening."

"That's too bad because if you're gonna live under my roof, those are the rules," Joyce replies.

Chloe clenches her fists, hoping that something, _anything_ would happen to avoid that piece of shit to move in with her and her mother, but it seems like the universe has other plans. No. She will not go down without a fight. "I'm not going. And he is definitely not moving in with us."

"Yes he is, and you will go, or you will no longer have a home."

Chloe screams, and slams her fists on the hood of the car. "Why are you letting this asshole make the decisions for you?"

"Chloe! We made the decision together, for your benefit," David reasons.

Chloe sneers at David, not believing that for a second. She was fine before he showed up. "My benefit? My benefit is when you didn't exist to _ruin my fucking life!_ " Chloe turns around and walks away. She faintly hears her mother yelling after her, but then she hears David telling her to let her go. Good, she says to herself.

* * *

The junkyard is the one place Chloe feels safe, and away from the drama that is her life. She doesn't want that douchebag to live in her house, and she definitely didn't want to go to some shrink. She wants to get the hell out of Arcadia Bay and start a new life somewhere else, preferably with her new crush Rachel. She still can't believe that she admitted that to Rachel and she...took it surprisingly well. Most girls wouldn't have reacted the way Rachel Amber reacted whenever some girl outta nowhere admitted they had more-than-friendship feelings for their friend. They would be disgusted. Chloe would know - Rachel Amber is surely not her first girl crush, and she is very sure Rachel won't be the last.

And it proved something - Rachel is _not_ like most girls.

However, it does show that Chloe may have a chance. It wasn't long ago where Chloe admitted to herself that she exclusively liked girls, but she could never admit that to anyone, not even if her father was alive and looking right in front of her, mostly because he would figure it out if that dream yesterday is any indication. She doesn't have that much friends either - Max won't respond to any of her letters or texts, Eliot has the hugest crush on her and Chloe knows admitting she's a lesbian would crush him, and anyone else she really talks to (like Frank or Skip) may not understand. She's mad at her mother, so that's out of the question, and she would never tell David anything, no matter what circumstance. It's probably for the best, since it's not much of anyone's business anyway.

She spies a truck that is similar to her former classmate Nathan's, and gets a wild idea. Why won't she fix it? Her dad taught her everything she needs to know. Chloe once suspected that her dad wanted a boy, especially with all of the lifehacks he taught her (like how to replace a car battery for instance) but it's probably for the best that she's just a car loving lesbian. Chloe searches around the junkyard and finds a recently impounded car, removing its fresh car battery, and heads back to the truck. She inspects the interior and picks up a couple other things - a beach towel to cover the seat, an old Two Whales Diner plaque to cover the hole on the passenger's side of the floor, and a green Christmas light for a light inside the car. It ain't much, and she probably has to illegally hotwire it and also fix it herself since it's uninsured, but it will surely take her from point A to point B, like moving far away from Arcadia Bay with Rachel.

However, as Chloe tries to start the car...nothing. She checks around to see what the issue is, and realizes It still needs more love than a car battery. "Great," she mutters.

She checks her phone and ignores her mother's texts to see if anyone else tried to call or message her. Nothing. She did not want to go home, not when Sergeant Dickface is there trying to move in the Price household. The last thing she wants is to be there right now. She has way too much time to kill before Rachel's performance tonight, and now that she doesn't have school anymore—

"Chloe," she turns around to see Rachel standing right in front of her. Chloe doesn't say anything. She pats the seat next to her and opens the door on the other side. Rachel gets the hint and goes over there to sit next to Chloe. "You got some wheels."

"All I need is gas...and probably some tools to fix it up some more," Chloe shrugs.

"I can help with the gas but the tools...you're on your own."

Chloe chuckles. "Don't worry, I got some tools I can use."

They sit in silence for a couple minutes, until Rachel realizes she cannot stand the silence for long and starts talking again. "That meeting this morning...I wasn't expecting you to do that."

"I know how much you love acting, and to be honest, Principal Wells has been stalling the inevitable for quite a while," Chloe admits. "I'm not exactly this...stellar student my mom likes to talk about. Not since...my dad. But it's not like my mom has made good decisions. She decided that her ugly ass boyfriend moving in would be good since I'm now a screw-up. I'm really sure they'll eventually get married or whatever. My mom's still young, she can still give birth to a child she'll finally be proud of."

"Your mom loves you," Rachel says. She really believed Joyce loved her daughter, to the point where she showed up to the meeting and defended Chloe. No parent should ever dislike their child. "From my perspective, she tries, and she fights for you, even when you're in the wrong...I think you should give her some credit. Plus, how long has it been since her husband died?"

Chloe scoffs. Figures Rachel wouldn't take her side. "What are you saying?"

"I don't know who her boyfriend is, and I know you'll never like him or think of him as this replacement for your actual dad, but...I don't think you should make any rash decisions to move away."

"She thought it was a good idea to send me to some shrink!" Chloe exclaims.

"Chloe, she has a point." Chloe laughs bitterly, and shakes her head. "I've been thinking, and as much as I want my dad to pay for cheating on my mom, I think there's more to it, so I can't exactly leave yet. And...Chloe...there's got to be a time when you gotta let go of your dad…"

"No," Chloe growls. "You don't get to dictate when I get over my dad or not!"

"I never _did_!" Rachel argues back. "You see, this is why your mom decided that therapy might be good for you. You have so much emotional distress, Chloe, and most mothers wouldn't even give a shit...they'll think that it will pass as time goes, but it doesn't. It stays with you, because it's traumatic. It messes you up. Just give it a chance, Price. It might actually help you. And when you decide to take responsibility for your actions, you know where to find me." Rachel grabs her duffel bag and leaves the junkyard, leaving Chloe to herself.

"Once again, _fuck you_ Rachel Amber," she says to herself. She pulls out a lighter and a cigarette, hoping a smoke break would clear her mind.

It doesn't. She momentarily closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, she's sitting next to her dad, with his car burning and the rest of the forest burning from Rachel's accident the previous day, and he's roasting some marshmallows on a stick. Chloe decides to follow suit, getting as close to the fire as she possibly can without burning herself or the stick.

There's silence for a little while.

"Amazing, isn't it? I can't look away," her father speaks up.

Chloe sighs. "Sure."

"What's on your mind, Chloe? Oh no, don't tell me. You're mad at everyone."

"You guessed it," Chloe snorts. She removes the stick from the fire, remembers randomly that she hates marshmallows from a mouth burning accident years ago, and throws the stick aside, with the slightly roasted marshmallow intact. "Mom wants me to go to therapy and my friend wants me to forget about you."

"You can't forget about me, but she does make a point. Sometimes, in life, we have to make choices, and they have consequences whether good or bad. We can either accept those choices or we can keep dwelling on them, forever." there's another silence. "Your mom wants the best for you and your friend seems to care a lot about you."

Chloe rolls her eyes. "If they'd care, they'd leave me alone."

"You know that isn't true. You have to learn how to grow up someday, because life is unforgiving, and one day…" he turns around, revealing a huge burn on the left side of his face and a crow pecking at his skin. "You might not be able to wake up from a nightmare."

* * *

The next minute Chloe wakes up, the cigarette is almost done and the sky is an hour away from setting. "Shit," Chloe whispers, puts out her cigarette, and steps out of the old car. She checks her phone for any missed calls, but only finds the unopened message from her mother earlier. With a heavy sigh, she opens and reads it.

 **Mom:** I'm sorry Chloe. I shouldn't have put you in that situation. I'm still mad about you getting expelled from school and your attitude with David was getting on my last nerve. But, I love you and I want you to be the best person you can be so that's why we arranged for you to go see someone. Both of us want the best for you, Chloe. That's all we want. Please meet us halfway and let's be a happy family.

Chloe sighs and wipes a tear from her cheek. She hated making her mom beg for anything, and she hated making her mom sad. She knew her mom, Rachel, and her dream dad was right. Something had to be done about her attitude. David is another obstacle she doesn't see herself competing in, though.

She makes a hasty run for it, towards her house. It's far but she doesn't care. What she needed to do was to apologize to her mom. She'll deal with Rachel later, maybe after her performance tonight...if her mom would let her go. David can still go fuck himself.

Chloe reaches her house when the sun is almost setting. She pulls out her set of keys and opens the door. "Chloe?" she hears her mom shout from the dining room.

"Yeah mom, it's me. I got your message." She shuts the front door and makes her way to the dining room. "I think you're right. I need to...work on myself for a little while, and I'm willing to see this doc…"

Her mother smiles. "What brought this on?"

"Call me crazy, but i had a daydream about dad. He told me I had to grow up someday...and Rachel sided with you so I guess those were my signs."

"Chloe…" It doesn't surprise Joyce that her daughter still dreamed of her dad...sometimes she dreams about her husband too. "You know I love you."

"And I love you too," Chloe replies.

"I am proud of you though for making a small breakthrough. Still mad, but I'm proud."

Chloe nods. "I know."

"And as part of your week long punishment, you have to help David with moving in."

Chloe frowns at the mention of David. When will her mother know of the horrors of what this military brat has done to her before? "Come on, mom. Can I just buss tables at the diner for the rest of the week?" She groans.

"I would, but you're still a minor. Get your working papers and maybe I'd reconsider," Joyce replies. The look on her face says that she contemplated it for a little while. "Be lucky it isn't two weeks."

"So I can't go to Rachel's performance?"

Joyce laughs. "Which part of punishment don't you understand, Chloe Price?"

"Fine. But if she's mad at me for missing her performance i'm putting the blame on _you_." After saying goodnight to her mom, she goes upstairs and watches the sunset, since there's nothing else to do anymore.


	2. Week 1

"Chloe! Hurry up! We're gonna be late for your appointment!"

Chloe sighs and finally gets out of bed. She didn't sleep at all. After last week fighting with Rachel in the car before admitting defeat and being grounded for the rest of the week for being expelled, plus her recurrent dad dreams, she has been dreading the appointment with the therapist. She doesn't even know who they are, but she suspects whoever the fuck this dude or dudette is, they better be worth it. She hasn't been able to leave the house, except on occasions when she helps David move in or when she begs Joyce to get out for once and maybe help at the Two Whales Diner because she's stir-crazy and she still can't get along with David. It's been a terrible week.

"Come on!"

"Can you wait thirty minutes? I need a shower!" Chloe yells back.

"You should've thought of that before sleeping the morning away!" David shouts back. "Let's go sold-I mean, Chloe."

Chloe groans, and looks inside her closet for anything to wear. She opts for a black hoodie and a pair of joggers instead since she's not going far and she can't exactly take a shower anymore, despite taking one last night. She slips on a pair of sneakers, grabs her phone and portable charger, and heads downstairs, where Douchebag David is waiting. "Don't even say it," she interrupts David from saying something snarky and meninist. "You refused to wait for me to take a shower, so you lost your privileges to say anything snarky to me."

David doesn't even argue. "Let's go before you're late." Chloe follows him out walking towards the car, and she immediately goes towards the passenger's side. The ride to the office is completely silent, but Chloe keeps herself busy by playing games on her phone. She ignores texts from Eliot and she hasn't messaged Rachel, at all, since the fight. She's no longer at Blackwell, so most of her contacts are useless. However, it won't stop people from asking what happened.

A few days ago, she received a message from Victoria Chase, which surprised the hell out of her because she thought Victoria deleted her number after they finished that project a year ago. It wasn't pleasant, but the last thing Chloe would ever do, amongst other things, is entertain a dumb bitch like Victoria. She also got some reassuring texts from Steph - she still can't stop thinking of that board game she played on her unofficial last day - and also from a few others she generally can care less about.

Once they reach the office, Chloe braces herself for whatever this would bring her. Therapy may or may not work, and she kinda wants it to work because that means finally being in control of her life and stop blaming others for past mistakes.

The secretary asks for her name, and Chloe tells her, giving the secretary her insurance card and her Oregon state ID. She waits a while, looking at the office before her - it's kind of plain, which is expected but Chloe expected some color in it. She hopes this shrink isn't some boring white dude who would dully ask her questions and dully give her advice. That isn't what she wants and to be quite frank, those types of therapists never help those who need the help.

She barely gets a chance to sit down when a seemingly tall, dark skinned woman shows up from her office and calls her name, not in a monotonous way but in a way that makes Chloe stand up immediately. "I'm here, doc."

The lady waves her over and walks back inside her office. Chloe follows suit, and notices how really long her legs are. Great, not only does she have to see a therapist but she has to see someone she might fall in love with just by looks.

When Chloe enters the room, she isn't surprised. It only has a couple things on the wall, like a couple degrees, a psychologist license, and a photo with some other woman and a couple kids. Boring. "Hey doc, you never think of making the place a little snazzier?" Chloe doesn't expect an answer. Instead, she looks at the plaques on the wall. "You seem to be an overachiever, Dr. Chris Keller."

"If you call getting your valid certificates and degrees 'overachieving' then sure, i'm a huge overachiever," Dr. Keller responds. "Take a seat and we can start your session."

"Whatever you say, doc." Chloe sits down on the chaise, and brings her feet up. It's way more comfortable than it looks, enough for Chloe to fall asleep if this session gets too boring. "I'm here to discuss my apparent craziness, if you will."

"You're not crazy," Chris chuckles. "People who go to therapy aren't crazy. Instead, i'm here to help you become more self aware and to work on yourself. That's why most people go to therapy."

"All that mumbo jumbo and all you can just tell me is that I need to get my shit together."

"That's a crude way to put it, but yes Chloe, maybe you do need your shit together." There's a shared silence, until the therapist breaks it again. "I've seen your file and not only have you just been kicked out of Blackwell Academy, you are also prone to lashing out, you've been arrested on drug charges, and you've been in a couple fights."

"So what? A couple kids don't like me. I can't help it."

"Have you ever wondered why?" Chris inquires, looking Chloe dead in her eyes.

"I did, but then I realized 'fuck it' because no matter what, people will always assume crap about me. That's never gonna change. What has to be done, however, is that you have to not let it impact your daily life. Shit, if I knew this was just gonna be some type of attack, I would've stayed my ass home."

"I'm not attacking you, Chloe. I'm trying to understand why you act the way you act. It hasn't been five minutes in here and already you're tense, you're closed off, and you're defensive. Those aren't good coping mechanisms."

Chloe rolls her eyes. "What do you know?"

Chris waves her hand. "Besides reading your file, I can read body language. You walked in here with your shoulders slouched over and your hoodie on. You're not even wearing jeans."

"That, is because that douchebag wouldn't allow me to take a shower this morning. That loser woke me up too damn late and now i'm here with joggers on. That's my story and i'm sticking to it."

"Who's the douchebag?"

Chloe laughs. "My mother's boyfriend, David. He got me pissed off this morning."

Now we're getting somewhere, Chris thinks. "Tell me more about David."

"Ugh, David Madsen aka Douchebag aka Sergeant Dickface - he's a terrible person and he treats me like he's back at war and i'm one of his soldiers. He's also an entitled fuck boy. I may be gay as hell, but I have no idea what my mom sees in him."

"Is he mean to you?"

"Mean? He treats me like a soldier instead of a kid." Chris raises an eyebrow at that. "There are occasions where he would...uh…" Chloe runs a hand through her hair. "He would put his hands on me."

"Like sexual assault?"

"Please, if he dared try that shit I would kill him with his own gun," Chloe says back, with an apparent look of disgust. She understands why her therapist drew conclusions but it's still repulsive to think about. "It's physical assault. I have counted three occurrences where Sergeant Dickface has smacked me and made me feel like one of his worthless soldiers. I keep trying to tell my mother but she apparently thinks i'm out to get David. I am, but for good reasons. Don't get me wrong though. I wanna see my mom happy, but not at the expense of my happiness too. It sounds selfish but I think it's wrong when a parent who you're supposed to trust is dating some abusive prick that puts their hand on that parent's child, before they're married. That's wrong." Chloe casts her eyes down and starts scratching her wrist. Realizing what she's doing, she immediately stops. "No child should ever be exposed to that type of abuse by another adult."

Chris couldn't say anything else. She notices how much this topic is giving Chloe a lot of distress and it surprises her that Chloe hasn't started hyperventilating yet. "Let's talk about something else."

"To be honest, Christine, i'm not comfortable talking about anything anymore," Chloe growls. "How about we cut this short instead? I can leave."

"I can't do that because you're a minor, and because you have half an hour left, so either you find something to talk about or we can sit here in silence."

Chloe does exactly that. She rolls her eyes and puts a pair of earbuds on, listening to music for the next half an hour. She's already over this bullshit. She doesn't hate Chris, but talking about David and his physical abuse set something off, to the point where she almost relapses in front of a mental health professional. She knows she has to try harder to better herself, but not when David is still seen as some white savior or whatever the crap. One of these days, Chloe would finally reveal the truth and it will be so sweet. Of course, her mom won't be happy but maybe this time it will teach her about trusting abusive men.

She feels a earbud coming off, and she turns to her side. "What?"

"Your time's up," Chris replies. "Same time next week Monday."

"Where I talk about something triggering in my life? Whoop dee doo," Chloe deadpans.

"We don't have to talk about that. We can talk about something different, more positive if you like. Can you think of something positive to talk about for next week's session?"

"I can sure as hell try," Chloe says. The only thing positive in her life right now is Rachel, and they're not really talking. She doesn't say anything else as she leaves the office and wordlessly appears in front of David. "I'm ready to go. Don't even attempt to ask me how it went, because you for sure don't care."

"Chloe, you have to stop fighting me," David sighs.

"When my mom sees how much of an abusive prick you are and dumps your ass, then I will stop fighting you." There's a short tensioned silence between them. "Now, take me the fuck home already."

* * *

It takes another day for Chloe to swallow her pride and contact Rachel again. At least she would reply, unlike Max, Chloe says to herself when she composes a text message. She hovers her finger over the send button, but before she has time to decide against it, her fat finger presses it by accident. "Motherfucker!" Chloe whispers in anger. "That wasn't the message I wanted to send!"

She tosses her phone aside and leans back against her pillow, smoking a cigarette. She couldn't stop thinking about her session with Chris Keller - she was so close to doing something she hasn't done in almost two years, thinking about the verbal and physical abuse she's been through because of David. Now that he's settled in, she has no idea how this is going to work. To prevent relapsing again, she probably has to think of something more uplifting.

It's going to be really hard thinking of something positive in her life, other than Rachel. Nothing made her happy, not even her cigs or her mother, or being the fuck away from Blackhell and its demons.

She exhales another puff of smoke when her phone chimes. She unlocks her phone and instead of what she expected, Chloe gets a string of messages from Eliot. "Fuck, man, why do you keep trying?" Chloe asks herself. She still hasn't talked to him after getting expelled and even before that, she felt really guilty talking to him because she knows Eliot wants her and she can't deliver back. It's fruitless how boys, even when she was thirteen and hella confused, would ask her out. She used to say no because she wanted to focus on her studies but now she says no because she doesn't swing in that direction.

Of course, it didn't stop her from being curious at times. It was gross, but it's the past.

She ignores those messages and pays attention to her cigarette. But before she picks it up from her ashtray, her phone rings again. It's Rachel.

Chloe: rach i'm srry for not coming 2 the play and i'm srry for not contacting u sooner I just thought u were mad at me

Rachel: I thought you were mad at me.

"I was," Chloe says to herself. Rachel sends another message before Chloe could type that out.

Rachel: I said some shitty things back at the yard, but I was trying to look at a different approach with you getting a relationship with your mom. I probably shouldn't have said that and should've took your feelings into consideration. Plus, I expected you to miss the play. It was almost cancelled because I fainted after some freak accident with my tea and Juliet being stuck in traffic for a while, but we salvaged. It was still a disaster without me.

Chloe giggles. It doesn't settle right with her that someone may have dosed Rachel's tea, but the last sentence is so Rachel.

Chloe: meetup rust at 3?

Rachel: yeah, definitely. I could use some time outta Blackwell. Since you been gone it hasn't been the same.

Chloe: i'm sorry i can't b there 2 taint ur pretty pristine record, even though it was u who suggested we cut class

Rachel: Shut up lmao

Chloe smirks and leaves it at that, finishing her cigarette before getting ready to meet Rachel.

* * *

"How the fuck do you fix this shit," Chloe says to herself when the car battery spikes electricity once again. She gets to the junkyard early after easily evading David (who's looking at the classifieds on today's paper) and speed walking there with adrenaline by her side. Now that she fixed her relationship with Rachel they can continue...whatever this is. She isn't entirely sure what it is. What Chloe knows is that she likes Rachel and it is possible, maybe a 55/45 chance that Rachel may like her back.

Her mind wanders for a moment - has Rachel ever dated a girl?

Chloe hasn't dated any girls in her lifetime, but she did kiss Juliet Watson during a dare in seventh grade and had a crush on Max, which made her finally realize she's a lesbian. Rachel probably dated some girls, or a girl, or maybe this is her first rodeo. However, it's confusing and invigorating for Chloe, and she wants more of it.

She gives up on the car and instead enter the roomy car. It's the middle of spring so things are warm...then again it could be the burning forest. Chloe has almost completely forgot about that, but she couldn't forget when it snowed ash one evening when she was going home with Joyce after a day at the Two Whales Diner. The fire's been contained for the most part but there's so much ecosystems destroyed because of it. It's like California burning but they're in shitty Oregon.

As she pulls out a lighter, she hears a soft knock. "Can I come in?"

"Of course you can," Chloe smirks, and opens the door for Rachel. She watches as Rachel wastes no time getting inside and almost leaning onto Chloe. "So, how was hell?"

"Hellish," Rachel replies, giggling. "Seriously, Chlo. It isn't the same without you."

"You knew me for one day, my last day, and suddenly it's 'not the same'. We should've met each other before if that was the case."

Rachel nods. "I agree. Who knew our time going to school together was limited to one day...and we didn't even go to school."

There's a short silence. "Oh, did you ever find out who dosed your tea?"

"I knew the minute I woke up from my drug induced sleep - Victoria Chase," Rachel says with disdain. "I don't get why she's so mean to everyone, even going as far as doing someone's tea. And I've been nothing but nice to her."

"Trust me, I've had my run ins with Victoria Maribeth Chase," Chloe replies. "I'm more than glad to not share the same school with that bitch."

"I honestly wish that were me," Rachel sighs. "I confronted her and she played stupid. As usual. I would report that, but Principal Wells has a tendency to ignore students who don't have the last name Prescott. I had to deal with her for the week, knowing that I drank her booby trap tea and she got away with it."

"I gotta say Rach, you have self control because if she did that to me, I would've clawed her eyes out with my bare hands."

Rachel smiles. "Oh, don't worry, I want to claw her eyes out."

Chloe starts laughing, and Rachel joins her. It takes them a few minutes to stop laughing, and a comfortable silence follows after. Rachel lays her head on Chloe's shoulder, and Chloe lets her. "I still think about it, you know?"

"What, running away?"

"Yeah."

Chloe wants nothing but to run away, and if she wasn't seeing Chris, they would have left already. "I went to go see a psychologist yesterday."

Rachel glances at her. "You did?"

"Yeah, Christine Keller - a pretty black lady with killer legs."

"Should I be jealous?" Rachel asks, raising an eyebrow.

Chloe scoffs playfully. "Nah, she's too old for me. But anyway...we talked about David, but that made me angry so I shut her down and we sat in silence. It's not progress, I know but i'm trying. It's just that...he's a terrible person and I hate people defending him for the sake of my mother's happiness. I know she wasn't trying to defend him either, especially after I told her he's physical with me...but…"

"You didn't mention that with me," Rachel glowers. "If I had know that, Chlo—"

"It's ok," Chloe says, rubbing the back of her neck. "He only hit me three times—"

"Three times too many!" Rachel argues, her voice rising. "He isn't even your stepfather. He shouldn't be hitting you. There's no justification to that shit. Your mom needs to open her fucking eyes...wait, was that too much?"

"I told her that so many times it'd be a broken record," Chloe chuckles, humorlessly. Rachel sits up and folds her arms across her chest. Chloe couldn't help but smile at that. "You're so cute." Chloe widens her eyes, realizing what she just said. "Shit, That was supposed to be—"

"It's ok, you're cute too," Rachel laughs, and unfolds her arms.

Chloe raises an eyebrow — are they flirting? Is this flirting? Chloe hasn't been around girls enough to understand flirting and her first train ride with Rachel when they skipped school indicated that. "Glad we got that out the way."

"Yeah, we're a couple of cute gals, huh."

Chloe starts laughing again. It's the most she's laughed in...forever. Seriously, Rachel Amber is therapy enough. She feels so alive being next to Rachel, sharing things that her therapist wished to know. However, she has another session with her next week, and Chloe doesn't hate her yet so, maybe she can try her luck next week.


	3. Week 2

" _Christine_ ," Chloe starts off on her second session. She crosses her legs on the chaise and plays with the earbuds hanging on the rook of her ear. "How was your week?"

"First off, I thought I was asking the questions," Chris says, raising an eyebrow at Chloe's uncharacteristically uppity behavior. "And second off, either you took my homework into consideration or you're like this for no reason."

"I had homework? Jeez, I thought getting expelled from Blackhell Prison was enough for me to never think about homework." Chloe knows exactly what Chris is referring to, but she's been feeling good since making up with Rachel last Monday. They've been knowingly, but innocently flirting with each other since that day and it may just be something positive in Chloe's shitty life. Plus, David's been backing off more often. "I didn't really take the positive thing into consideration because I felt like crap talking about Sergeant Dickface last week, but then I made up with my friend recently."

"Oh?" Chris brings her chair closer to her desk, and keeps her attention on Chloe. "Who's the friend?"

"Rachel Amber."

"The district attorney's daughter?" Chris inquires. "The name rings a bell."

"Yeah, but her dad's...ugh," Chloe snarls, thinking about Rachel's dad making out with that unknown woman. Rachel hasn't talked about that but Chloe knows it's eating her inside. "But, this is about Rachel. She's the only person I trust nowadays after my dad's untimely death and my ex best friend's departure from my life...and my mom choosing Dicktator David over her flesh and blood, yours truly. She listens to me and she doesn't pity me because of my traumatic past. She just...she's perfect."

Chris laughs. "You like her."

Chloe sighs. "It's that obvious, huh?"

"Well, yeah," Chris answers. "She seems like a positive influence on your life because just last week, you were closed off. It's always good to have a positive influence in your life."

"Yeah, you're right," Chloe agrees. She sits in silence for a minute. "We have this weird magnetic pull. Like, the moment she saved me from some assholes at a Firewalk concert, I knew there was something special about her. Despite sharing the same music taste, we've both seen some shit. We both were betrayed by people who we trusted. That's why I feel so...light, like the weight on my shoulders lifts off when we just sit there and talk...or when we don't...but that doesn't last long.

"The last thing I want to happen is that I lose her. I don't think I can handle someone significant in my life leaving my life again. I know it isn't my dad's fault for dying or when Maxine left for Seattle. Sometimes shit happens, but Max made a choice to not send back any letters or respond to my texts. I thought I mattered in her fucking life, but instead, I have to fend for my damn self and lose my mother to a war veteran who hits on little kids. God...I know this got dark but there's so much in my life that has happened and Rachel coming over and making it better…"

Chris picks up a box of tissues and hands it over to Chloe. She looks confused at first, but she notices her face wet with tears and takes a couple. "You have an abandonment issue, Chloe. No one likes to be abandoned, and trust me, it ain't a good feeling, but I hope you keep coming here and open up to me so that you will eventually realize that none of this - your dad dying, your abuse, and your best friend not contacting you for years - is your fault."

"I can't believe i'm saying this, but I have faith in you, Christine."

* * *

Chloe doesn't go straight home this time. She couldn't actually - David has an interview at Blackhell for some security job. Apparently they're replacing Skip. Whatever the fuck - he was a little creepy but she liked him. Maybe he quit to pursue music. She hopes that actually happened instead of getting fired like she thought would happen.

She walks two blocks down and enters the Two Whales Diner, which only has a few customers in there, along with her mom working by pouring a cup of coffee for someone that looks vaguely familiar—wait, is that…

"Chloe," Joyce smiles. "You're finished with your session?"

"Yeah, I am…" The person turns around, and Chloe couldn't breathe for a second. "Hey, Eliot. How's it going?"

"You haven't responded to my texts all week," he says, a little worried. "I asked your mom where you are but she wouldn't disclose, um…"

"Sorry," Chloe says shortly. She sits right next to Eliot, evading his silent request for a hug. No, not ever...well, ever again. "I haven't been responding to my texts because mom took my phone for the first week and well, I haven't had time to contact you." Lies, all lies. Joyce hasn't taken Chloe's phone, and she has had many time to contact anyone she wants. She just rather hang out with Rachel Amber. "What's going on?"

"I've been worried. You didn't attend the play so…"

Chloe playfully glares at Joyce. "Yeah, Mom grounded me so I couldn't go to support my girl Rachel," she deadpans.

"Uh...Rachel didn't perform. Victoria did. Apparently Rachel fainted so she obviously couldn't perform so her understudy Victoria did." Chloe resists the urge to roll her eyes. As if Rachel didn't tell Chloe about Victoria's scheming ass. But, she had to keep up a lie here.

Chloe starts to reply but Joyce places a plate with some grilled cheese on it. "Thanks mom." She pauses, "Ok. Icky Vicky Chase performed. Now, why are you here?" She starts to eat her mom's grilled cheese, resisting the urge to moan in front of Eliot. No matter how many times she can eat Joyce's famous greasy gooey grilled cheese, it still tastes as good as the first time.

"Um, I was wondering if you wanted to...uh, catch a movie with me this weekend."

Oh. She was already catching a movie with Rachel that same weekend...and it's kind of a date. God. She has to be honest. She can't keep skirting around this, and then be in an unwanted relationship, or worse, being outed by someone else. "Eliot…"

"I know it seems sudden, but please Chloe. I've liked you for a long time, and I feel like we could really be great together if you just let me in."

Chloe casts her eyes down and pushes the half empty plate aside. She gets up, and pulls Eliot outside to the back of the restaurant. It seems secluded enough, she thinks quickly. "I can't go out with you, Eliot."

"What's your reason this time, Chloe?" Eliot asks, his irritation growing.

"Because...ugh...I…" She tenses up, realizing that this is the first time, aside from her psychologist who just guessed it, that she's coming out to someone. It isn't the most ideal place, but she has no choice. It's to be honest and keep him off her back. "I'm, uh, I'm gay, Eliot." Eliot stares at her blankly, and it kind of scares Chloe. She isn't very sure if this was a good decision - Eliot may not be as popular as Nathan or Victoria but he can sure spread a word around if he wants. "And to be honest, it may not shock a lot of people over at Blackwell so if you're gonna out me—"

"Why the fuck would I do that?" Eliot asks accusingly.

Chloe shrugs. "I don't know Eliot. You weren't exactly saying anything for a minute so I jumped to conclusions, ok? My bad."

"What kind of guy do you take me for, Chloe Price?" Eliot inquires. "Do you really think that I would just out you to a school you don't even attend anymore?"

"I panicked, Eliot," Chloe reasons. "You're straight, you don't know about this shit. How was I supposed to know you would take it well or not? Sometimes kids get kicked out and lose their friendships for being gay. Hell, they can fucking die. So, sorry if I did that, but i'm not sorry for being who I am, and i'm not sorry for telling you."

Chloe growls over the tensioned silence after that. "Whatever, Eliot. If you're gonna be a douche because you won't ever get the ever loving chance to date me, then fuck you." She turns around and goes back inside the diner, a small part hoping he would come back and apologize.

But he never does.

When Joyce clocks out for the day, she notices Chloe's angry expression. "You ok, sweetie?"

"Yeah, I'll be alright." Fuck men, Chloe thinks as she enters David's car.

* * *

Friday comes, and Chloe is still pissed about Eliot. She was never really close friends with the dude, not like her relationships with Maxine or Rachel, but he was cool and they go to concerts together. Who's gonna accompany her to concerts now?

Oh, Rachel.

Chloe scoffs at the thought of that - Eliot is fucking replaceable. She can enjoy concerts with Rachel and have all the benefits of having a friendship with Rachel.

However, she wants to be more than friends with Rachel, and tonight's date is a huge indication of how she feels about Rachel. Chloe was hella surprised to hear that Rachel wanted to go with her. Had Rachel say no, maybe she would swallow her pride and go with Eliot, as long as he doesn't try to kiss her or whatever straight people do.

God. Why did she ever think she could ever like men? They're scum. The only man Chloe ever trusted is dead so yes, all men are scum.

Chloe opens her closet door and looks for something decent to wear. She's ditching the hoodie/baggy relaxed jeans look and something more casual sophisticated...if that's a thing. Whatever.

Chloe finds an old tattered flannel shirt from when her father was still alive. It was his favorite and Chloe refused to throw it away. She had stitched every hole and sewed in replacement buttons, but she hasn't worn it since last year. She brings it up to her nose, but the smell of William is long gone, replaced with Chloe's natural scent. She smirks and lays it on her bed. She picks out a few other embellishments and gets ready.

In about an hour, she is ready for her date. She cuffs her shirt up so the sleeves are above her elbow, and she dusts her pair of jeans down.

Chloe reaches downstairs and says bye to her mother before heading out towards the way to the theater. She waits at the entrance, ignoring the recognizable students from Blackhell, hoping one would show up.

"Hey Chloe!" Hayden waves at her.

Ok, maybe she can say hi to one person. "Hayden. What's going on?"

"You here to see the new movie too?"

"Yeah, but i'm waiting for someone," Chloe replies.

Hayden smirks. "Which person stole your heart, Miss Price? It's not Eliot, right?"

"Hell no." Both of them laugh until Rachel finally shows up. "Well, there she is."

"I knew it," Hayden replies. "Don't worry, I won't say a word to anyone."

"Yeah, right." After saying bye to Hayden, she goes over to Rachel and smiles at her. "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Both girls head inside and try to sit as far away as possible from any of the Blackwell students but Hayden and Drew are awfully close by with Steph and Mikey, and Stella manages to sit two chairs down from Rachel, with Brooke and Warren. "We need more than one movie theater in this town."

"Yeah, we do," Chloe agrees.

Chloe hoped for peace and quiet, but all she got was a theater room full of her former classmates that she barely interacted with and only knew because they had classes at least once. Maybe Eliot may show up and sit right next to Chloe to seal the deal and then that's when her date is officially ruined.

But he doesn't; Chloe watches him sit right in front of the screen. She sighs in relief. The movie starts and everyone watches it. Chloe would often glance at Rachel, who glances back and either smiles or points towards the screen. Chloe never listens though. The movie is kind of boring but if that means spending more time with Rachel, she can grin and bear it.

The movie ends and both Chloe and Rachel wait a while before shuffling out. Chloe may have revealed her reasons of being here to Hayden and it went smoothly, but Eliot is here and she's not taking any chances. Another confrontation is the last thing she needs right now. The theater is empty when Chloe leaves with Rachel right next to her, and they manage to evade any students near the claw machine to finally leave and breathe in the slightly charred spring night air.

"Well, that was weird," Chloe speaks up, the silence unnerving her.

"Which part was weird, you staring at me instead of watching the movie, or the fact that Hayden and Drew were on a date?" Rachel deadpans, a smirk creeping up her lips.

"Neither of those," Chloe answers. "I suspected Drew a while ago, and I like staring at pretty girls." Once they're a couple feet away from the movie theater, Rachel reaches over and holds Chloe's hand, which causes Chloe to blush. "What's with the sudden hand holding?"

"My hands got cold," Rachel says sarcastically. "Don't question it, Price. Just let whatever's supposed to happen, happen."

Chloe cannot argue with that. They walk to Rachel's house first, because it's a long walk and Chloe doesn't want it to end. She's holding Rachel's hand for fuck's sake. Who gets the chance to do that?

They stop right in front of Rachel's front fence. Chloe expected a white picket fence in front of the Amber estate, and she gets exactly that. If they had a dog, it would be the ideal American home, with the cheating scumbag dad, the stay at home mom, and the daughter who is torn at picking sides. She stands in silence but she notices Rachel hasn't let go of her hand. "This is your stop."

"Thanks for a good date, Price," Rachel says, a satisfied look on her face. "Next time though, we gotta do research because I don't wanna see any of my classmates at all this summer."

Chloe chuckles a little. "If you want to be permanently away from those losers, you know where to find me."

Rachel grins. "I'll keep that in mind." She steps closer to Chloe as much possible and leans in, kissing her. Chloe is a little surprised at how sudden it is, but nonetheless she's kissing Rachel back, unaware of anything else but each other.


	4. Week 3

Chloe relaxes on the chaise as soon as she enters, sighing. She kinda missed this chair. When she knows Chris is already sitting down and prepped herself, she thinks on which to talk about, her date or her confrontation with Eliot. She settles for the first, because fuck Eliot and Chloe doesn't need some guy ruining her mood right now. "I had a date with Rachel last weekend."

Chris starts to remember the mentioned Rachel last week. "Oh, yeah? How was it?"

"It was weird," Chloe admits. "We went to a movie and a bunch of my former classmates were there as if they just knew about the movie that was playing that night. But, then it got better. I kinda had my first kiss and I gotta say, it's better than kissing Juliet Watson during some juvenile game and it's way better than kissing boys."

Chris rolls her eyes. "You are something else, Chloe Price. But, this new step in your relationship with Rachel...both of you want this?"

"I know I do, and i'm not stupid to see that she wants this too," Chloe replies. "We're still talking so there's nothing awkward between us."

"Good, just as long as there's nothing weird and both of you are healthfully exploring your new relationship. One of the most important things in a relationship is direct communication."

Chloe knows for sure she has some sort of direct communication with Rachel. Her other friendships she hasn't necessarily kept - Max moved away and never contacted her, and Elliot has some sort of crush on her that she cannot reciprocate even if she were straight because she only sees Elliot as a friend, or at least she used to. "Yeah, I just wished some people kept their end of the bargain when it comes to communication." Chris assumes Chloe is talking about her ex-best friend, Max, so she silently urges Chloe to continue. "A postcard would've been nice, you know? But Max looks like she's too busy to talk to me. We're not even that far apart...she's in Seattle. She could be in some obscure town in New Hampshire or some shit but she's right there, and snail mail isn't complicated. Also my number hasn't changed in the last two years."

"Did you two fight before she left?"

Yeah, Chloe thinks. It was a really petty fight and Chloe has gotten over it but what really makes her feel abandoned by her old friend is that Max is actively avoiding her texts and her letters. It still sucked that someone who is supposed to be her best friend just dropped her like that. "It wasn't even a serious fight. I felt that maybe the space would maybe realize that we gotta be strong, especially since I lost my dad, but nothing. I was forgotten, left on read. Who does that to their friend?"

"Sometimes it's best to not wonder why someone may not have wanted to contact you," Chris advises. "Your old friend may have moved on and doesn't want to tell you. People can do that, and we may not like it but that's what happens. Plus, you may never know. It may not be the last time you will hear of Max."

Chloe rolls her eyes. "Kinda wish it was."

"You don't mean that," Chris frowns. "Anyways, I'm sure you have other friends, aside from Rachel."

"I did, but he's in love with me," Chloe rolls her eyes. "I told him I was gay last week and it may not have gone ideal but who cares. I'm tired of men thinking that if we have a close acquaintanceship that we're supposed to date. He hasn't even talked to me since then, which sucks because he's been there since Max left, and I thought I made it clear that I always wanted to be friends but…"

Chris takes the silence as her turn to speak. "Sounds like he wants to assess where he stands with you now. But, if he doesn't accept that part of you, he's not a good friend."

Chloe agrees. If Eliot actually cared about her, it wouldn't take an entire week to get over whatever crush he had on her and they can start talking again. She surely could use another friend, since her relationship with Rachel is becoming way less platonic and she doesn't have any other friends aside from Eliot, but if it doesn't, Chloe isn't sure if she gives a shit.

* * *

Chloe sneaks back inside her room the next day after getting her well deserved drugs from Justin. He owed her big time from taking her emergency blunt without asking, and she's been craving weed for weeks after her expected expulsion. She waits a solid five minutes, trying to hear if her mom or the douchebag is anywhere inside the house and gets her confirmation due to the silence so she turns on her rock music and gets her pipe from her closet.

"It's been a while," Chloe notes. Only on occasions would she use her pipe since she can just roll it up for on the go embarks. She sets it up and takes a well-deserved hit, the smoke entering her lungs momentarily. She keeps the window open so the smell won't completely engulf her room.

Shit, she should probably go back to Frank for some better weed but this'll do. Chloe shouldn't complain anyway. However, she hasn't seen that drug dealer in weeks, and to be honest, she likes it that way. She might still owe him money and it's best not to poke the bear when he's not even in action. She doesn't even know where she'll get the money. She could always manipulate Nathan Prescott - he seems like the loser that would get manipulated. He might even have some good shit on him since he always looks like he's tripping on drugs. She's so glad she didn't stand up for that little bitch. Drew had threw his folder in the fountain and Samantha was mad at her, but she had little care.

From her perspective, Drew is right. People like Nathan shouldn't buy their way into sports teams, and last time she checked, Drew's father lost his job at the shipyard thanks to the Prescotts' meddling. Plus, she didn't like Nathan and the feeling is all but mutual.

The only other rich person in this town is Victoria, and she's not barking up that bitch's tree any time soon. Reasons being highly obvious - Victoria is a bitch, and would do sneaky shit like drug other people's tea to get her way.

If Rachel's dad wasn't such a scumbag, she would use him. Then again, Chloe knows next to nothing about Rachel's dad and would rather not know about him.

God. If Chris wasn't such a good therapist and if Chloe wasn't so passionate about fixing her severed relationship with her mom, she would've been on her way to Los Angeles with Rachel, away from this hick town and its fucking issues.

"Chloe! Open the door!" Chloe whips her head over to her door. Damn, she thought she was careful. She shuts off her music, but she can't exactly hide a pipe, that's still burning Arcadia Bay's shittiest reefer. "Did you hear me? Open the damn door!"

"Can you hold the fuck on?" Chloe shouts. She effectively hides the rest of her drugs under the bed but before she thinks of a way to get rid of her pipe, David waltzes right inside her room. Did she lock the door? "When I ask you to open the door, you open it."

"And when I tell you to wait, you wait," Chloe fires back.

"You need to keep your music down, i'm trying to—" Upon seeing a trail of smoke, David fixes his glare on Chloe's desk, which still has the pipe. "Seriously, Chloe? You've been toking up in here?"

"It's not the first time," Chloe shrugs. "And you sure as hell could need some to temporarily take the stick out your ass."

David sneers, "No amount of therapy would make you drop your damn attitude."

"Or maybe I don't like your ass, you ever thought of that?" Chloe says back. "I don't think you're a good influence on my mother."

"That's not your decision—"

"And who decided that, huh dickface? What, sick of hearing the damn truth for once?" She watches as his hands ball up into fists, but it doesn't stop her. She doesn't want to concede to some type of agreement with David Madsen, not ever. "You think you're helping us by trying to be some type of father figure in my life or a replacement, but you're not. You will never be my dad, and I will never think of you as such. You're a jobless piece of shit."

Chloe doesn't see it coming, but to be honest, she should have. As soon as she feels the brunt of a punch on the right side of her face, she grabs her face, and almost cries in agony. She holds back tears, and she doesn't stop looking at the floor. "Listen, you're not going to talk to me like that."

"Get the hell out of my room you piece of shit," Chloe growls.

Chloe hears labored, regretful breathing for a few seconds before she hears fading footsteps and her door slam. This isn't the first time she's taken a slap or two from David but this has been the quietest one. Most times he would lament on how worthless she is or something. This time he wasn't having it, she guesses. But, surely, it would be the last time he would ever put his hands on Chloe, unwarranted of course.

She notices the rest of her weed already burned out she doesn't care. It wasn't working anyway.

* * *

Chloe tells Rachel to meet her by the American Rust, but she's there, inside her secret hideout. She starts tagging around it with some symbols, but it doesn't lament her anger towards David, towards her mother, or towards herself. Some would say that Chloe provoked him, kicked him where it hurts first, but that's shitty. Chloe isn't an adult yet and she shouldn't be subject to physical and verbal abuse from her mom's shitty boyfriend.

She looks at herself in the mirror for the first time, and the bruise is huger than she expected. "Jesus, David, were you wearing rings when you decided to whoop my candy ass?" She says to herself. It's as big as the bruise she got when she fought those asswhipes at that Firewalk concert, which feels like forever ago.

"Chloe, where are you?" Rachel yells.

"In here," Chloe replies.

Rachel walks in and immediately notices Chloe's black eye. "Chloe!" She reaches over and inspects it. "You can't stay outta trouble huh?"

"You can say that." Chloe steps away from Rachel's touch and sits on the worn out chair. Rachel raises an eyebrow and sits right next to her. "I didn't get into a fight with some skeevy asshole at the mill again. David caught me smoking weed and we got into this fight and he punched me."

"What?" Chloe notices how angry Rachel gets. It's not the reaction she expected, but… "God, I can't believe I sided with him! I knew you didn't like him but I thought it was because you were being stubborn and won't let someone in your life but I didn't realize it was deeper than that." Rachel sighs, and reaches to hold Chloe's hand. "I'm so sorry, Chlo."

"It's ok, Rachel. You wouldn't have known, but today he was willing to smack me I guess." She feels warm inside knowing that Rachel cares for her like this. "And I might take you up on that offer to hide this gnarly scar. The last one was a badge of honor. This one doesn't sit well with me."

'Chlo…"

"Please," Chloe implores. "I don't want my mom thinking I got into another bar fight and she won't believe me if I told her David hit me."

Chloe can tell Rachel doesn't want to do this. She can tell that this should be the sign for her mom to believe her about David, but she knows damn well her mom will always choose David. She might even side with him if David twists the story enough to make him look like the victim. "Ok, ok, fine. But, I didn't bring my makeup kit here. You gotta come to my house to get it."

"And run into your scumbag of a dad? No thanks."

Rachel cracks a smile. "My dad's at work. Until then I'll show you how to hide it and you can keep doing it until it heals. But next time, please consider telling your mom. She may love her boyfriend but you're her number one priority."

"The hell I am her number one priority," Chloe mumbles, which earns a glare from Rachel. "But I'll tell her. I promise. Now, let's get outta here."

* * *

Rachel's home feels different.

Chloe hasn't been to much people's homes in reality. She's been to Max's house many times as a kid, and occasionally she has been inside Elliot's home. She knows Frank's recreational vehicle from far away. She's also been inside Victoria's dorm for a project she can never forget about because it was horrible enough to share a class with the rich bitch. But, each of these places have some sort of control - Rachel's home doesn't.

It could be because Rachel hates her dad for his cheating, but Chloe senses something...deeper.

They get to Rachel's room, which is of course, clean as hell with some Broadway playbills, theater masks, and pictures of Los Angeles on her wall. It's the typical teen girl bedroom, complete with fairy lights everywhere. Rachel pulls Chloe to her vanity, and opens her makeup box. "Your bruise is fairly new so yellow concealer works best. Just apply it over your face and then cover it with the foundation that accurately blends in with your complexion. We're the same skin color so you don't need to go to a drug store." She starts putting a creamy yellow liquid over the half of Chloe's face, and it dries out quickly but not to the point where she can't move her face. Then, she grabs the foundation and blends it with Chloe's face. It's weird to Chloe but to Rachel, it feels natural.

When Rachel finally finishes, she grabs a handheld mirror and puts it on Chloe's face so Chloe can see her work. "Wow. That sure hides any sign of David ever hitting me."

Rachel doesn't respond to that. "Just make sure to do what i did. Concealer, then foundation."

"How would I know which one is which?"

"Read the labels, duh," Rachel laughs.

They're both laughing until Rachel hears a knock on her door. "Damn, I thought both of my parents were out."

"Rachel? Are you in here?" her mother asks.

Rachel couldn't just ignore her so she says, "Yeah, mom, I'm in here."

Her mother walks in and faces her daughter, as well as Chloe. Chloe could barely, if ever, see any resemblance between Rachel and her mother. They looked like polar opposites. Her mother had very dull eyes and is a brunette while Rachel had narrower, lively eyes and is significantly blond. "Oh, hello there...uh…"

"Mom, you remember Chloe, from that meeting we had weeks ago," Rachel responds. "Chloe, meet my mom...again."

"It's nice to meet you again, Mrs. Amber." Chloe forces a smile and shakes Rose's hand.

"Call me Rose."

Chloe fights the urge to say something snarky, as this is Rachel's mom after all. For all we know, Rose Amber isn't the scumbag, she's the victim to a cheating husband and father. "Anyways dinner is ready and I hope you two can join us."

"Both of us?" Rachel questions.

"Oh, no, I just came here for some makeup tips and then I was going back home," Chloe says.

"Oh, but we insist. Maybe Rachel can convince you to stay," Rose prods on, looking at Rachel momentarily. "We'll be downstairs waiting for you."

Once Rose leaves the room, Chloe glares at Rachel. "Hell no! I'm not staying for dinner with your scumbag with a father!"

Rachel rolls her eyes. "Come on, Chlo. It won't be that bad. You can get to know my parents. Plus, with our growing relationship, they have to know the girl who kinda stole my heart."

"I stole your heart, eh?" Chloe smirks. "I didn't know you thought of me like that."

"It's kinda hard not to," Rachel replies. "Now, have I convinced you long enough to have dinner with my parents or do I have to convince you some more?"

Chloe shrugs. "I don't know. I might need a little more convincing."

"Fine." Rachel bends down and kisses Chloe. "Now come on, my parents aren't that patient."

Chloe gets up from the chair and follows Rachel downstairs. Chloe still has that eerie feeling and is still wary of Rachel's mother as she sits down right next to Rachel. There's something that they aren't telling Rachel, and she hopes that something, anything, would happen to reveal the truth no matter how much it sucks. Hopefully, whatever truth that Chloe is sensing right now isn't so bad that Rachel eventually ups and leaves Arcadia Bay the next day with or without Chloe.

Not really surprising Chloe, the dinner is silent, mostly silent. Rose's chicken a la king is surprisingly good...a lot better than what Chloe expected.

"So Chloe, did you and Rachel have any classes together?"

Chloe barely raises her head from the almost empty dinner plate. "I wish. Rachel has honor classes while I was in remedial everything...everything besides lunch."

Rachel snorts. "Chloe, shush."

"What, it's true," Chloe shrugs.

Both James and Rose look at Chloe, then at Rachel, and to themselves last, wondering about their daughter's strange behavior. "How about that fire? The way it spread so fast...I never heard of anything like it."

"Might've been arson," James suggests, which makes both Chloe and Rachel give each other fearful looks. "Fire department found a trashcan nearby and figured that the fire started there. They can't say who started it though."

"We may never find out," Chloe mumbles.

"Arson? Why would anyone do that?" Rose asks. "Arcadia Bay doesn't have those types of residents."

Are you kidding, Chloe screams in her mind.

"Can't say that for sure, dear," James replies. "Even Arcadia Bay isn't immune to the ills of society."

Chloe turns to Rachel, noticing that she has stopped eating and is looking down on the dinner table, glaring at it. Chloe knows she's angry, and to be honest, Chloe would be angry too if these two are her own parents. She doesn't know whether to comfort Rachel or leave her alone, or the third option: confront James.

No, she'll wait. "I can't imagine what you have been through for the last few years, Chloe, but now that you and Rachel have become friends, I want you to know that our home is open to you."

Don't think so, Chloe thinks. "Oh, cool...thanks."

"Well said, dear." Chloe glares at James, knowing he will say something bullshitty and try to turn this on himself. "It's imperative, in such troubled times as these, that we remember what is most important to us. Family." Chloe bites back a laugh. "Family is not merely a gift. It is a responsibility. As such, those we love must be cared for and never taken for granted."

Are you done, Chloe wants to say. She wants to rip this guy's head off and feed it to the forest fire. He has no idea what he's talking about, because for Chloe, family's always been shitty. Ever since her dad's death, everyone seems to not care about it anymore. Her mother barely waited a damn day (in her opinion) to get together with David, and of course that pissed her off. "Or, whenever you feel like the shit in your life is the lamest, ever, you can always run away from whatever is bothering you - as long as you keep calm."

"I disagree. I like to fight my battles head on, but to each their own, I suppose."

Rachel balls up her fists. "Oh, fucking blow me."

"Rachel!" her mother exclaims.

Rachel ignores her mom and focuses on her dad. "You are so full of shit, dad. You are a lying, cheating, piece of shit and you sit here pretending that everything's ok for the past few weeks but I saw you kissing some other woman at the overlook. We both did, actually, and don't try to sugarcoat shit or act like what I think I saw was a delusion."

"Rachel, honey...it isn't what it looks like—"

"Then what was it, huh?" Chloe snaps. "Because I'm sure your lovely wife isn't a blond haired blue eyed chick with a white dress on. Isn't that right, Rose?"

"You will not disrespect me in my own home," James sneers. "Either you get out or I call the police."

Chloe laughs. "Oh, threatening the shitty Arcadia Bay police on me? I know those pigs like the back of my hand. I've done worse misdemeanors than overstaying my welcome at the Amber Estate. Try me."

Before anyone has the chance to reply, Rachel brings the plate over her head and breaks the glass table. "Why can't you just tell me the fucking truth?" She yells. "Stop lying. Stop being a politician for one goddamned second. Can't you just be my dad, for once in your life?"

James turns to Rose, and back to Rachel. "That woman…is not my mistress. She's your mother."


	5. Week 4

Chloe has way too much on her mind once she enters her psychologist's office next Monday. The drama that happened last week with Rachel's parents is still actively playing in her mind, from Rachel yelling at her dad to Rachel finding out that her mother isn't the mother she grew up with but rather the person James is having an "affair" with, to Rachel having to spend the night at Chloe's that night and trying to find ways to get out of Arcadia Bay forever.

Basically, Chloe's weekend was tumultuous, to say the least.

"You look like you've seen hell and back," Chris starts off the conversation. Wow, someone else other than her mother sense something's off. "It might be better talking about it than to hold it in."

Chloe tries to choose between telling Chris about David punching her or explaining the shitstorm at the Amber residence, but she can't. She doesn't know how Chris would react to something like abuse, especially since Chloe herself is a minor. She's been taking herself to these therapy sessions after swearing off David the first time, because he wouldn't let her bathe, and she doesn't want to deal with that asshole anyway. She rather swallow large pieces of glass, especially after he decided to smack her so hard that she has to borrow Rachel's makeup. "Have I ever talked about my mom?"

"On occasions, yeah," Chris answers, not really expecting that.

"She means well, sometimes. I know she probably had to deal with my sudden mood change right after her husband dying, but...when she thrusted this new man in her life, someone that I despise way more than I despise anyone in my entire life, I felt...betrayed. We had just buried my father not too long ago, which was probably at the end of the year if you want specifics, and she brings him home just so I can meet him."

Chloe chuckles a little, remembering her first encounter with David. "It was terrible. He's basically a huge military brat who believes that we should respect the troops and the police and that women shouldn't be doing certain things or whatever. I wasn't happy and I tried to express my concerns to my mother, but she always brushed me off. It hurt to know that my mother spent all her time trying to get to know David but when I meet him, I can already sense he's terrible and yet, she doesn't believe me."

"Have you thought about why she hasn't believed you?"

"Plenty of times. I initially thought that she's lonely and would take any man that has some level of interest in her, but now I'm convinced that she thinks I probably deserve some of the 'tough love' David gives me. She doesn't get that tough love doesn't mean hitting me because I won't tolerate his totalitarian behavior. She doesn't get that sometimes, your kids not liking your new boyfriend is not a good sign."

"No, it isn't," Chris agrees. "Since you already said why you don't like David, I'm not gonna ask again but...If your mom found a new boyfriend, one that's better than David, around the same time your dad died, would you have liked him?"

"No," Chloe says back. "I'm not against my mom finding a boyfriend but I'm not ok with my mom suddenly moving on to the first dick that moves either. We barely got to understand who would do something so evil to my dad and suddenly this military trashbag comes into the picture."

"Your mom has to move on some time, and you do too. And some people have different ways of moving on. Whether it's a new boyfriend, a new pet, or a new home…"

"No offense, but I would much rather go with those last choices," Chloe says, smirking. "In fact, we can get a pet and a new home. We could get the fuck away from Arcadia Bay and probably move to some big city in the Far East. I wouldn't have to deal with the bullshit that Arcadia Bay's been sweeping under the rug, like cheating politicians and corrupt ass rich families. The only casualty to this is I wouldn't have met Rachel, but i'm sure I would've found someone who can understand me like her."

Chris couldn't hold in her laughter. Chris isn't the only person who can see Arcadia Bay for what it is, but even though she would never admit it out loud, Chloe is growing to be one of her most interesting clients. "One of the few things in life is that we can't always dwell on the past. Instead, look at it as a stepping stone. You've been through enough trauma with a parent dying and your friend leaving your life, so instead of being resentful, you can accept that your dad will never come back, and that your friend may not come back in your life. Change is a very difficult thing to decipher as well. Some people can accept it, some people cannot. However, with change comes a new window of opportunity so you may still hate your mother's boyfriend moving in your house, but there will be a new opportunity in your life that may be good or bad for you."

"You have too much faith in me," Chloe quips. She realizes that it is now the end of their session, and she feels kind of disappointed.

"I gotta have _some_ faith in my clients," Chris replies back. "See you next week."

* * *

Instead of waiting for the bus, Chloe walks the rest of the way home. She already swore David off with picking her up so now she has to depend on walking or waiting for the bus and since the bus takes forever sometimes, she just walks. She can go to her mom's job but she doesn't really feel like facing her mother after the ordeal with David last week. Her mother almost caught her sometime last week putting makeup on in the bathroom, and that would've been a disaster. She might just assume Chloe got into another fight instead of being the punching bag to David's unspeakable rage, and the last thing she needs right now is her mother taking her boyfriend's side instead of hearing her daughter out.

Chloe gets home and it's quiet, up until she feels her phone vibrating. She picks it up and sees the text message from someone she didn't expect.

" _Fuck_ ," Chloe hisses.

Frank: price meet me by the diner we have shit to discuss

Just as she thought she was going to better her life by staying the fuck away from Frank and his drug related bullshit, he appears out of nowhere. What the fuck does he want anyway? Chloe doesn't have the money she owes him, and she doubt she would ever have it. Nevertheless, she makes her way towards the Two Whales parking lot, not caring it will take forever for her to get there. He can wait.

After thirty minutes, she spies Frank's trashy recreational vehicle, and before she has a chance to enter, a woman with blond hair walks out. It's the same woman that James was having an 'affair' with, Rachel's biological mother. To be honest, Chloe can definitely see it - blond hair, slender figure, mysterious impression. She's the spitting image of Rachel Amber in the flesh.

But, she's not here for that. She needs to know what the fuck is going on with Frank. She knocks on the door. "Bowers, it's Price. What the fuck do you want from my life?"

Chloe waits until the door opens. "Get your ass in here Price. I ain't got all day."

"Sheesh." Chloe rolls her eyes and enters the RV. "What the hell, it smells like piss in here."

"I don't ask you how you live your life," Frank sneers. "Now, we got business to discuss. Get my notebook in my room."

Chloe scoffs, and starts to go towards the back, only to be halted by the moving RV. "Jesus H. Christ, couldn't you wait or give me a heads up before you start moving?" She doesn't care for Frank's response to that so she keeps it moving anyway, and opens the door, only to be ambushed by a puppy. "Oh! Hey little cutie!" She squeals while the puppy sniffs and nibbles on her shoe.

"Aw, shit. Pompidou, up here!"

Chloe almost laughs. "Pompidou? That's a name for a poodle."

"Yeah, and? Get my book, Price."

Chloe finds the book quickly, and opens it quickly to see her name in the red. "Fuck, fuck, I'm in the red. I gotta find a way to pay him before he starts stalking me...or maybe find another way to pay him." She closes it, and goes to the front, sitting right next to her dealer. "Alright, what do you want?"

"Got my money, Price?"

"Why the fuck would I have your money?" Chloe inquires. "Also, where the fuck have you been? I haven't seen you since that mill concert."

"Just as I suspected," Frank shakes his head. "Since you ain't got my money, I got a job for you instead. Open the book." Chloe opens it, and goes to the same page she found her name in. "There should be a name...some kid named Drew North. You know him?"

"Barely," Chloe answers. "Kind of a fucking meathead. What the fuck is he doing selling drugs?"

"Apparently his dad lost his job and he needed another way to put food on the table so he started selling pills. Football players eat that shit like it's candy. However, he hasn't been paying his dealer, so I need you to go in there and get his money. I know that school hasn't kicked him out yet so you got time."

Chloe doesn't feel good at all doing this. She wants to drop the dealer thing so she wouldn't have to make her mom worry, but in order for Frank to lay off her, she needs to do this job. "If I do this, i'm done with this shit. I won't have to owe you and i'm not gonna do any more runs for you."

Frank laughs. "Yeah, right Price. You ain't gonna do any more runs for me? Where you gonna get your weed?"

"I'm quitting cold turkey," Chloe responds. "I've been getting some help and i'm not gonna keep destructing my life. I hope you understand."

"Yeah, whatever," Frank mutters. "Now, get in there and get my shit, Price."

Chloe turns her head, and is surprised to see that she's already at the Blackwell campus. God, she hasn't missed this school. She exits the RV and heads straight to the Prescott Dorm, evading any lingering students. She goes straight to the door, but it's locked. However, she hears a voice behind the door and she moves quickly enough to see Skip leaving the dorm, leaving the door slightly ajar. He gets a call from Wells about a suspicious vehicle (Frank's RV, of course) and heads straight there. Chloe smirks, and enters the dormitory with ease. She easily finds Drew's dormitory but it takes her a while to find the money.

"Gotcha," she whispers. She makes sure that nothing was disturbed inside the room, closes the trunk, and leaves the dorm room, going towards the fire exit instead of the regular exit hoping not to run into anyone as she tries to get herself out of Blackwell. When she gets to the front of the campus, she realizes that was too easy. "This is suspicious as hell," Chloe says to herself. She pulls out the envelope again and feels the money inside the envelope again but she still feels like this is probably going to bite her in the ass. She has no time to discuss that with herself though. Ignoring the twinge in her stomach, she heads to the one place that Frank would've probably gone to since he was basically kicked off campus.

* * *

Again, it's a long walk and the day is starting to wade. However she finds Frank's RV and immediately enters the RV finding the door slightly open. "Yo, Frank, I got the money."

She doesn't hear a reply. Is he even in here? No, he should be. No drug dealer would ever keep their door open for shit. Chloe sighs and sits in the passenger seat, relaxing until she gets several text messages.

Eliot: we need to talk.

Chloe groans. She doesn't want to talk to Eliot right now. She's still mad at him and to be honest, what she had to do to Drew isn't helping either. This will definitely bite her in the ass but right now, she has a debt to pay and if that means Frank can finally fuck off, she has to get over this guilt thing and move on. However, Chris' words from a week ago rings in her head ("Sounds like he wants to assess where he stands with you now. But, if he doesn't accept that part of you, he's not a good friend.") and suddenly, it occurs to Chloe that maybe Eliot isn't a complete douchebag, if he ever was one.

Chloe: fine meet up two whales

As she pockets her phone, Frank leaves his bedroom and finds Chloe in the passenger seat. "Finally, you're here."

"You left me at the campus!" Chloe exclaims.

"I can't afford one more strike, Chloe," Frank sighs. "It's partially why you haven't heard from me in weeks. I had to make sure the pigs weren't on my ass before I had to approach you with that task. Now, did you get it?" Chloe reluctantly gives Frank the envelope. "Sweet! That's enough to pay off both of your debts, and a little left over."

"Great, now can you fuck off?"

"Yeah, yeah," Frank waves her off.

Chloe practically runs out of there and feels a weight off her shoulders. However, she still feels guilty about stealing Drew's money. What is the cost to this? She would rather be in debt forever with Frank than to steal someone else's money...someone that she doesn't even hate.

As soon as she decides to stop feeling bad for herself, Chloe enters the diner and finds Eliot sitting at the booth. She heads straight over there and sits across from him. "What do you want, Eliot?"

Eliot turns around to stare at Chloe. "I've been thinking, again...about what you told me…"

"It's not a big deal, Eliot," Chloe replies, groaning. "I'm gay. That's it. There's nothing else to talk about."

"But you see, there is."

Chloe rolls her eyes. "Ok, Eliot. Humor me. What the fuck do we need to gab about?"

"Your new relationship with Rachel."

Chloe groans again. She always knew Eliot didn't like Rachel. Often, he would talk about how she isn't to be trusted because she's some popular girl but, what issue does he have with Rachel now? "What about my new relationship with Rachel?"

"I don't think you should be seeing her."

Chloe narrows her eyes, and tilts her head. "And why is that? Just because you don't like her doesn't mean I shouldn't like her either. She's my friend."

Eliot laughs. "Friend? You two were kissing after that movie!"

Chloe furrows her eyebrows. The only way he could have known that is if… "You _followed_ me after the movie? What the fuck, Eliot?"

"I'm concerned about you, Chloe. You got yourself expelled not too long ago after your little stint with Rachel and now you two are friends?"

Chloe snorts. "You don't get to dictate what friends I should have."

"Maybe I should, because you don't realize what Rachel is capable of. Let's look at what happened ever since you met her. You end up in a fight, something i'm convinced she got you into."

"I bumped into a dude with serious anger issues, and she saved me from almost dying. You need to back the fuck up before you start accusing Rachel Amber of things she—"

"Next day she convinces you to skip school. Magically, she barely gets in trouble...and you get your ass expelled."

Chloe clenches her fists and exhales. "I've been skipping school since the beginning, Eliot. Not only that, Wells had it out for me for so long. Expelling me was inevitable. And she was protecting me, like how I was protecting her. She didn't deserve to be pulled out of a play that she worked so hard on, only to be replaced by _Victoria_."

"And yet, Victoria still stole the show."

"Yeah, because that freshman bitch _dosed_ her tea!" Chloe grows even more angry. If they weren't in a diner, Chloe would have punched him so hard for that. "What's your fucking point, Eliot? Rachel Amber doesn't make me do anything I don't want to do. That's not how a friendship works. And so what if something more is happening? That's none of your fucking business either." She huffs, while Eliot glares at her. "You need to shut the fuck up."

"I've been quiet long enough, Chloe! You need to open your fucking eyes. Rachel is an amazing actress, and not only on stage. She's fake, and you're real. She's manipulating you."

"And how, pray tell, is Rachel Amber manipulating me? By being my friend, actually giving two shits about me unlike you?"

"How about you look where you are now? A high school dropout? Hanging out with criminals?"

"I'm a high school dropout trying to better my fucking life and make better choices!" Chloe defends. "If you were around instead of avoiding me because I told you something in confidence, you'd know that! I barely have any friends other than Rachel, Eliot. I'm not hanging out with any criminals!"

"Then why were you getting out of Frank Bowers' RV earlier? Hm?" Eliot inquires.

Chloe tries to hide her general fear (because Eliot is creeping her out even more) with anger and hate. She cannot believe that Eliot is convinced that some girl is bad for her, when they are barely friends herself. Plus, why hasn't anyone tried to break them up by now? "I appreciate the concern, Hampden, but i'm fine. I certainly don't need you checking up on me every fucking second of the day."

"Not when you're exiting out of sketchy RV's and getting yourself in trouble every week. It's time you saw the truth. I'm the one who cares about you. Me. Not Rachel, not anyone else."

"The fuck you do!" Chloe finally snaps, which gets the attention of many people, including her mother. "Instead of arguing with me for pursuing more friends, how about you support me? How about you realize that multiple people actually _do_ care about me? It's not just _you_ , Eliot!"

That certainly springs Chloe's mother into action. "I think you need to leave," Joyce demands.

Chloe smirks as Eliot looks back to back between both women. He gets up and leaves, which definitely makes Chloe exhale in relief. "Fuck. Thanks, mom."

"No problem. If he shows up again, let me know."


	6. Week 5

trigger warning: there's a small mention of self harm (that will definitely be explored more in future chapters) on the last few paragraphs of this chapter. proceed with caution.

* * *

Chloe doesn't sleep all week after stealing Drew's money.

Despite feeling relieved that Eliot severed ties with her, the thought of Eliot coming back and doing something even worse makes her kinda scared. But he seems to be generally fucking off, deleting her from all social media and blocking her when she does a quick search on her social media.

What makes Chloe really worry is when Chloe receives a series of text messages from Steph, who she sadly hasn't talked to in weeks, about how she saw Chloe suspiciously went in and exited the Prescott Dormitory the same day Drew lost his athletic scholarship when some drug dealer (probably this Damon character, because Frank wouldn't do that...and he wasn't on campus anymore) broke his knee. In between those ordeals, Mikey says their emergency fund is gone but no one knows who took it because it had a lock on the door. Of course, Chloe stays quiet until Steph messages her again.

Even as she steps foot inside her therapist's office, she still cannot forget about the messages Steph sent her.

Steph: did you take the money

Steph: it has to be you bc i saw u enter the dorms that day

Steph: answer me

Steph: i bet you would answer 2 drews texts once he finds out

Chloe hasn't said anything and she's going to keep it that way in hopes her guilt will pass over in the next week, or month, or year probably. She may have had lost a friend in Steph but she has to pretend that she doesn't care at the moment as long as she has zero debts with her former dealer.

"You've been sitting here silently for about three minutes," Chris speaks up, which surprises Chloe because she feels like she just entered the office. "What's going on in that imaginative mind of yours?"

Chloe is seconds away to telling Chris about her dealer but she stops herself. What would Chris do if she finds out that Chloe was in a heist with her dealer? There are certain things that Chloe knows she has to shut her mouth on, and this was it. However there is so much on her mind. First it was how she feels right after stealing Drew's money and Steph accusing her. Then it was Rachel and her parents' relationship, which is severing day by day which makes Rachel even more uncomfortable in her own house...and then there's David, who is still here. Chloe's bruise has healed but she still needed to cover an ugly colored scar so she still has makeup on, and she gets the hang of it. Will she do this again for recreational purposes? Nope...ok, maybe the eyeliner part that Rachel does almost everyday. There's also the Eliot situation, but she rather not talk about that. Eliot can die. "Rachel found her dad cheating on her mom over a month ago on the overlook."

It's not the best way she could've introduced it, but it spikes Chris' attention. "Is she ok?"

"That's not even the end of it. She recently found out that the person her father was seeing is her biological mother. She's deeply affected by it, even refusing to speak to her mom or her dad about it. Sometimes she can't even bear being in the same house as her dad so she sometimes stays with me."

"It's always terrible to hear that type of news," Chris sighs. "At a time like this, she needs a friend, or at least answers. Her dad may not be able to give her answers, but you are stepping up to be the friend by making her stay with you and basically just being the support that she needs."

"God, I hope…" she really wants to help Rachel and she thinks the best way to do that is to find the woman. She seems to hang out with Frank, so she can look there as a start. However, that means she has to talk to Frank again. Now, that's terrible. "I don't _really_ feel like talking much, Christine. I'm sorry."

"That's fine, Chloe. But you know you can't leave yet."

Chloe sits in silence until her session is over. She feels disappointed in herself for not talking much, but she really feels terrible and sure, she can talk about that, but as much faith she has in Christine, there are certain things she just...doesn't want to talk about right now.

* * *

"I wanna meet your mom again."

Chloe snaps her head in Rachel's direction. If Chloe meeting the Ambers was disastrous, Chloe knows damn well meeting Joyce and David would go even worse. Despite maintaining a relationship with her mom, Chloe wants David to disappear from her life. "No."

Rachel sighs. "You met my parents, or the people I thought were my parents."

"Your dad is still your dad," Chloe points out.

Rachel rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean...and why can't I meet your mom again? It might be different. First off, Principal Wells is nowhere in sight, and second, your academic future is no longer in jeopardy."

"Because you have to meet that dildo of a man, also known as my mom's boyfriend, along with my mother," Chloe says back. "And I know you want to kick his ass."

"If you can hold your tongue around my dad, I can for sure hold my tongue around David Madsen," Rachel says, determined. "Also, I'm obligated to meet my friend's parents, now am I?"

Chloe cocks an eyebrow. "We're still friends? I thought our makeout sessions, cuddling, and dates made us official. We should already be moving in by now."

"Ok, then, will you be my girlfriend, Chloe Elizabeth Price?" Chloe can even tell Rachel is being serious, because he looks even more serious than before.

"Yes, I will be your girlfriend, Rachel Dawn Amber," Chloe smirks. "Now that we got that settled…"

"Tell your mom that your _girlfriend_ is coming Friday night," Rachel remarks, emphasizing on girlfriend.

"Or maybe she can find us making out and then suddenly invite you to dinner, like what your m—Rose did," Chloe jokes.

Rachel caught that, but doesn't comment on it. "She caught us giggling, not making out. Had she find us making out, she wouldn't invite you for dinner. She would've probably kicked you out or allowed you to leave. She's not always accepting of everything."

"Well, she isn't your biological mom so she can't touch you," Chloe states. "Also...I saw that mysterious woman again."

Rachel frowns, but her eyebrows raise in piqued interest and she stares at Chloe. "Oh? When did you see her?"

"Last week when I had to go see my dealer for some mission he had me do," Chloe answers. "Seriously, dude, she looked like you. It was so uncanny. If you were into tattoos and white dresses, I would've thought it was you walking out of my dealer's RV."

Rachel blinks. "Did you find any information on her?"

"No, sorry," Chloe says, sighing.

"I want to find her," Rachel says, her voice laced with determination. "I'm going to ask my dad and you can ask your dealer, unless you don't talk to him."

Chloe scratches the back of her neck. "I'm trying not to, because i'm trying to turn my life around and that means cutting off terrible people in my past, but I'll find out some info. He owes me anyway." Chloe hopes that James Amber turns his life around and releases the information on that mysterious woman, because she doubts that Frank will even open his big ass mouth to tell Chloe about anything in his life. She would have to seriously think of some other way to find out about that mysterious woman instead of relying on her questionable connections.

Rachel starts grinning again. "Good, now, I have to go find something to wear for tomorrow's dinner, because I want to impress your mom."

Chloe rolls her eyes. "You can literally wear a potato sack with a studded belt and my mom won't be too offended with your fashion choice."

"Yeah but you're my girlfriend now and I'm not going to wear something terrible." She gets up from the beanbag chair and reaches to touch Chloe's cheek. "I wanna wow the fuck outta her."

"Fine." Rachel grins and kisses Chloe. "But i'm not going to dress up."

Rachel shrugs, stands up, and leaves the secret hideout. Chloe sighs in contentment, wondering what she got herself into.

* * *

Chloe doesn't get the chance to tell her mom about her guest until she's already in the kitchen, preparing for a Friday dinner. "Hey mom, is it cool if a friend comes over for dinner?"

"Depends." Joyce doesn't look away from the pot, stirring what looks like to be her famous firehouse cornbread chili, but she can see Chloe from the corner of her eye, fidgeting nervously. "Is it one of your little drug dealer friends?"

Chloe gives her mother an affronted look. When has she ever invited _anyone_ other than Maxine Caulfield inside their home? Ok, there was Eliot, but they only did weed (that she acquired) and other things that she doesn't like to think about. And there were a few other boys, who—ok, she sees her mom's point, but still. "No? Mom, remember Rachel Amber?"

"Oh, in that case, Rachel is welcome to come for dinner."

That was easy, Chloe says to herself. "Thanks, Mom. She's been talking about wanting to meet you again and I think this is a perfect opportunity."

"Good, and David said he had something to tell us at dinner."

Chloe's good mood instantly drops. Today's been the first day since she hasn't had to wear makeup after his assault weeks ago, and now she has to face that son of a bitch again. After evading him weeks upon weeks, she has to see his face again? "I guess I have to be on my best behavior, huh?"

"You'll eventually like him, Chloe," Joyce assures, finally looking at her daughter.

"Yeah, and Max will finally write me a letter," Chloe mutters. She really wished her mother didn't have to mention David at all during their small talk.

Joyce drops it after that comment. "At least help me get some ingredients if you're gonna stand there. Maybe you can learn a few things."

Chloe helps her mother for a total of thirty minutes until she hears a knock at her door. She doesn't even allow anyone else to get the door - she moves faster than her mom, and opens the door for Rachel. "Welcome to my humble abode."

Rachel holds back a laugh and walks in once Chloe moves to the side to let her in. "Something smells good, and it feels weirdly cozy in here."

"My mom made chili, and that's because my house is smaller than your huge ass mansion." Chloe takes Rachel's hand and takes her to the small kitchen. "You've met my mom. Mom, this is Rachel."

"Nice to meet you again, Ms. Price." Rachel smiles and shakes Joyce's hand, firmly.

"Call me Joyce. You can sit by the table if you want, dinner's almost ready."

Chloe pulls Rachel upstairs instead. Rachel wants to stop and look around Chloe's home but she's already inside Chloe's room, which looks a lot more messier than her own, even when she's looking for an outfit. Chloe shuts the door behind her and leans against the door. "Nice room, Price. It's significantly bigger than most rooms, and you have a cool punk aesthetic going on. I'm digging it. Now, why am I up here instead of downstairs with your mom?"

"Because...i'm glad you're here to endure whatever bullshit David is going to tell me and my mother," Chloe replies.

"You just told your mom I was coming over," Rachel claims.

"Yes, I did, but it works out because she wasn't going to deny you in the first place. My mom has only ever met one of my friends, and the reason is because she lived down the street from me...until she moved. After that, I've had friends over that she didn't agree with."

"Let me guess, did one of them punch your v-card?"

Chloe cringes inwardly. If she could take back anything in her life other than her father dying, it would be having less than satisfying sex with boys she didn't even like. "And since she knows you and your arguably respectable dad, she can already tell you're not that bad. Also, I procrastinate. That's just my thing."

Rachel smiles. "I believe you. Now, can we please go back downstairs? Kinda wanna check out your place."

"It's a boring home but knock yourself out."

Rachel leaves Chloe's room, and stares at the wall of pictures downstairs in the hallway. Chloe is halfway downstairs when she notices Rachel looking at one picture that she should've took down when she had the chance, but doesn't have the heart to. "Who's this brunette standing next to you?" She asks, with no jealousy or anything, just curiosity.

"An old friend," Chloe answers. She clearly remembers the picture - it was when Chloe was ten and Max was almost nine and they went to the now-defunct Arcadia Bay Fair that year. Chloe had way too many mini corn dogs and threw up on the pirate swinging ride, but she still felt good enough to take that picture with Max, who's holding a pirate teddy bear that Ryan Caulfield won for his daughter. It was times like this that Chloe truly missed her short lived childhood.

"Where is she now?"

"Seattle," Chloe answers. "I tried texting her but she never responded. I also snail-mailed after my mom told me the address but no reply back either. I've given up long ago."

Rachel frowns. "That doesn't seem like a friend thing to do."

"Yeah, well, neither is getting into a fight before she moved, but I realized almost immediately how wrong I was. Didn't stop her from not contacting me though."

Rachel grabs Chloe's hand, giving her a reassuring look. "You don't have to worry about that ever again."

"I sure hope so."

Rachel steps closer and is inches away from Chloe when she hears her mother yell out that dinner is ready. Rachel takes one step back and nods her head towards the living room. "Lead the way."

Chloe does just that, holding Rachel's hand along the way, until she sees David sitting by the table already with an extra chair pulled out. Chloe tenses and is seconds away from probably enjoying her dinner upstairs until Rachel squeezes her hand. "I'll be by your side."

Chloe let's go of Rachel's hand and opts to sit far away from David. Rachel has no choice but to sit on the other spot next to Chloe, but resists looking at David.

"Chloe, who's this?"

"My friend, is that ok or are you gonna beat me up for it?" Chloe hisses, low enough for her mother not to hear. "Rachel, meet David."

Rachel ignores the fact that Chloe called her a friend and gives David a grimace, sticking her hand out. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," David replies, but doesn't shake Rachel's hand. Chloe notices this but resists the urge to say something. This was supposed to be Rachel's chance to meet her mom and the douchebag that her mom's involved with but the only thing she feels is uncomfortable, especially now that David's here and it's the first time they've seen each other since that ordeal in her bedroom.

The dinner isn't very silent like when Chloe got to meet the Amber parents. Joyce asks Rachel questions about herself and Rachel just answers them the best of her ability. Chloe just stays silent and eats, hoping it would end soon and maybe she can get the hell away from David and his 'news'. However, it doesn't work in her favor when David clears his throat. "I have good news."

"Oh, yeah, what's the good news?" Joyce asks. Chloe snarls and Rachel pretends to care.

"I got a job," David announces. "It's at the school, Blackwell Academy...i'm part of their security."

Chloe notices Rachel tensing up. Chloe couldn't care much because she no longer attended Blackwell, but she does fear for some of the students there, including her girlfriend Rachel. If something were to happen, who knows if David would handle it in a way that Skip did, with calmness and assurance. David isn't the doting type - he's a paranoid hardass and dealing with teenagers inside a school is not like dealing with soldiers at war. "Isn't that great," Chloe says sarcastically.

"Chloe," Joyce warns.

"Sorry mom, but do you really think Captain Hardass over here has the credentials or mental stability to deal with hormone addled teenagers?" Chloe inquires. "I'm just concerned, because he's not that great with me. Imagine how he is with high school teens!"

"You got on me for not having a job and now that I do, you still criticize me?" David argues.

Chloe snarls, but keeps calm. "Because I know what kind of person you are, and I don't think you have the mental capacity or patience to offer security to a bunch of kids who are either artistic sociopaths or science loving idiots. This is not an attack, David. This is me offering what I think is best."

"What's best? You just got expelled from that school and you're telling me what's best for me? How about working on yourself and listening to your own advice for a change!" David argues back.

Chloe, clenches her fists, until Rachel reaches over and touches her hand. Chloe gets up from the table instead. "Dinner's over." She leaves the kitchen table and is halfway up the stairs when she feels a soft hand grab her own. "Stop it Rachel."

"Let's go outside," Rachel suggests. "You can walk me home or something."

Chloe sighs, turns around, and heads outside, grabbing her keys with her. They start walking in the direction away from Chloe's chaotic home and towards Rachel's estate. "Fuck, I hate that douchebag son of a bitch."

"I can definitely see why you hate him," Rachel agrees. "He seems like one of those guys who think that the world owes him something...like Nathan's dad."

"You've met Nathan's dad?"

"Nathan's sister used to babysit me. Plus, my dad was concerned with what he wanted to do with Arcadia Bay and...well, they met up. My dad called him an asshole, and i'm seeing the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Chloe laughs. On the occasions she has observed Nathan, he looks like a troubled loner and it tells her enough to steer clear. "It's just...I was thinking mostly about you cause you still go there, and he's terrible with me so I was thinking about how he would be with you or any other student that I don't entirely hate over there."

"I'll be alright, Chloe. He's not going to do anything to me that I won't report his ass for. That is, if he does something that I have to report his ass for." Rachel wraps her free arm around Chloe shortly. "Thanks for looking out for me though."

"I'd be a terrible girlfriend if I did."

"Hm, thought I was your friend to David."

Shit, Chloe says to herself. "I'm sorry, Rachel."

"You didn't tell your mom about us either, now did you?" Rachel accuses.

Chloe sighs. She hasn't told anyone about her relationship with Rachel, and she isn't sure if anyone deserved to know. It's not really anyone's business. "To be fair, I was _never_ gonna tell David. He doesn't deserve to know that. My mom on the other hand…"

It finally dawns on Rachel. "You haven't even come out to your mother yet."

"Yeah, that," Chloe replies. "Neither of us have, really. I don't know how she'll feel about it, especially after she knows about what I've done with other people…"

"You're right. I haven't told my parents, mostly because I can't trust them. My dad might forbid me from seeing you or something."

"He already hates me so it won't be that much of a reach," Chloe jokes.

"Yeah but I want to keep seeing you. I don't want my dad, or my mom, to tell me I can't date you because they don't like you. You have a reason to tell your mom that you don't like David, he doesn't have a valid reason to not like you. At least, from my perspective. He never disliked any of my past partners so what makes you different?"

"I'm a girl, let alone a bad one," Chloe explains.

Rachel sighs, realizing Chloe may be right. "Ok, but I still won't stop seeing you because of my parents, if it ever comes to that."

"And I'll tell my mom...whenever I'm ready to tell her of course."

"I hope you do, because she seems like a nice person." Rachel holds Chloe's wrists, and glances at them for a second. It occurs to her that she never really looked at Chloe's scarred wrists, mostly because they're covered by either a sleeve or by some bracelet that covers it really well. "Hey Chloe…"

"I know," Chloe frowns. "It was when I was fourteen and I only did it a couple times until my mom found out. I snipped my fingernails to stop myself from making more scars...sometimes wearing bracelets because it was hard to scratch against metal or fake leather. I haven't done it in almost two years but sometimes…"

"Chloe…"

"Don't look at me differently," Chloe insists. "It was during a really dark time in my life, and often I don't talk about it because I have it under control." She may have been close during her first session with Chris, but since then, she hasn't done anything and hopes not to. "I'm already getting help."

"Ok, but please don't hurt yourself again," Rachel says, and gives Chloe a hug. Chloe chuckles a little, hugging Rachel back. "I care about you."

"I care about you too...unless that isn't what you wanna hear."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "Shut up."

Chloe would, of course listen to that, but she smirks evilly. " _Make me_ , Amber."

Rachel widens her eyes at Chloe's request, but she definitely understood what Chloe meant. There's no shame in her game, so Rachel puts her hands on Chloe's forearms and gives Chloe a kiss. Chloe immediately kisses back, bringing Rachel closer to her.


	7. Week 6

"I have a question," Chloe says to her therapist as soon as she enters the familiar office. "And the reason I'm asking you is because I feel like you would have had experience in this, and because I have no one else to ask."

"What's the question, Chloe?"

"How did your parents take it when you came out to them?" Chris raises both of her eyebrows, because she doesn't remember telling Chloe about her own sexuality. "Don't act all coy with me, Christine. I assume the people in your picture are your wife and kids?"

"They are, and I'm not surprised at that. I'm just surprised someone figured it out that quickly. My clients either figure it out after months of seeing me or they never find out until I explicitly tell them. It's kind of refreshing." Chloe laughs at that. "But to answer your question, I didn't exactly tell my mother. She figured it out when I went through high school and college without a single boyfriend. I would ask why you asked me that, but I think I know the answer to that."

"If you guessed that I, Chloe Elizabeth Price, is batshit scared of coming out to my mother, you're right because I never thought about doing it and I don't think I want to...but there's a part of me that is saying that she kinda has to know 'cause she's my mom, you know? I don't plan on telling David anytime soon because he might just not take it well, but mom deserves to know."

"Don't just tell her because she needs to know. Tell her when you're ready," Chris says seriously. "If you feel comfortable telling her, you won't have much to worry about...and to be honest, she's probably seen worse from you so you telling her you're a lesbian isn't as bad as you getting expelled from school or being arrested on drug charges."

"Listen, those are behind me and I'm not going to partake in any drug related issue ever again." And she's serious about that. After stealing money from an old classmate, Chloe wants nothing to do with selling drugs. Doing drugs is another story, though. She can quit the hard drugs but cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana aren't exactly avoidable. Two out of the three are already legal, while the third one is still illegal but no one gives a shit. "It's just...I know it sounds bad but recently Rachel met my mom and David and we both realized that neither of us are out. I have my issues, but Rachel feels like she can't trust her parents and..I'm also her first girlfriend. She's also my first, but I know how tough it is to not know what you really are when you have these different feelings. Some people don't have it as easy as me, who just basically figured it out after realizing that men don't interest me."

"Trust me, I understand that part too well." Chloe smirks, kind of relieved that her mother didn't screw up picking what psychologist might actually help her. She may not have changed much, but it's always good to talk to someone who...gets it. "She may not trust her parents after finding out about her true origins, and that's fine, but telling her parents is up to her only. She doesn't have to. You basically told me that you don't plan on telling David, and while it may come with your dislike for him, you can't just tell someone you cannot trust something like that. You can tell her that, but I think Rachel is a smart girl and she may realize that for herself."

"Well, thanks for that proverb, Christine," Chloe jokes.

Chris bursts out laughing. "All in a day's work, Miss Price."

* * *

The next day, Chloe gets a message from a mysterious number and at first, she doesn't want to look at it because it might be Drew threatening her, but she has to face her battles head on, even if it isn't who she thinks it is.

Private number: i know what you did!

Chloe almost doesn't reply, but as she almost types out a response, they message her again.

Private number: I hope you're happy with yourself

Chloe: who the fk is this?

Private number: you steal my money and now you're acting you don't know who this is? lol chloe price you are a trip and a half

"Shit!" Chloe almost shouts. She has to make this right and explain herself, even if Drew may not forgive her and might just pound her face in or something.

Chloe: listen i had 2 steal it to get my dealer off my back

Chloe: you can h8 me all u want but if you were in my shoes you'd do the same

Private number: hardly! my dad lost his job and is in a homeless shelter. i have to hide my bro in my room so he doesn't have to sleep there either. that was to get the hell outta this fucking town and now i have nothing to my name because you decided to steal it

Private number: but it aint worth shit now. My dealer broke my fucking leg and i can't get that damn scholarship. But you get to live your life debt free huh

Chloe: idk how 2 make this rite

Private number: you got 5k?

Private number: unless you got that kinda cash, you can fuck off for all i care

Chloe sighs and refuses to let herself cry. It's outta the way but Chloe feels nothing but deep regret, deep in her soul. Both Drew and Steph hate her, and as much as she wants to not care, her guilt doesn't allow her to even pretend that things are ok. It might just be another secret she keeps from everybody, but it's not a good one.

And, she really liked both Drew and Steph, so it's heartbreaking.

* * *

Chloe doesn't get out of bed the entire day. It's ok, because aside from Rachel, no one else contacts her, and David is surely not going to call her for anything. She only really gets up for the bathroom and some snacks, but other than that, Chloe stays in her sleep clothes and under the covers.

It's the best lazy day she's had in a while.

By around five in the afternoon, Chloe's boredom rears its ugly head and she finally gets up from her bed for something other than food and bathroom breaks. She heads downstairs to see if there's anything worth eating for dinner, since she's 100 percent sure her mother will be working until sundown and she suspects David is still at security training or at least out of her fucking way. She finds nothing, so Chloe settles on the third bag of microwave popcorn for the day. She grabs the box, and puts the deflated bag in the microwave for two minutes. She stops after around one minute and forty seconds and pulls it out. Most of the popcorn are popped and it isn't burnt like this morning.

Chloe eats the entire bag in one sitting, but after that she still feels bored and there's nothing else she can do except either call Rachel or watch either Blade Runner or Pirates of the Caribbean again. She rather not watch any of those movies because as much as she loves them, she'll just fall asleep after the first hour.

So she goes with the former. They chat for at least a few minutes and agree that Rachel should just come over and they can hang out until sundown, and then they silently agree that Rachel should stay for the night instead of going home in the dark, and the next morning they'll make out for a great portion of the morning until her dad calls and she has to go home so soon. Chloe would know - it has happened before.

Chloe, realizing she's still in her sleep clothes, takes a brief shower, brushes her teeth, and puts cleaner clothes on before Rachel's at her front door. "Welcome back to my humble abode."

Rachel walks right in and hugs Chloe. "Fuck, I missed you."

"I missed you too, clingy," Chloe jokes. She feels a punch on her shoulder but it doesn't even hurt. "Seriously though, I've been in bed all day to the point where I probably made an imprint on my mattress."

Rachel separates from Chloe, staring at her a little. "I can tell. You still got bed hair."

"I kinda like my bed hair. It gives off the 'I don't give a fuck' vibe I've perfected for so many years," Chloe replies, her voice full of sarcasm.

"Whatever, let's go upstairs." Chloe takes Rachel's hand and pulls her halfway up the stairs, only to stop and pull Rachel close and kiss her. Rachel is surprised, but reciprocates immediately. Without any interruptions, both of them kiss for what feels like hours, as if they haven't kissed in a long time, and it feels right. It reminds Chloe of the first time, only longer and a lot more intimate, at the comfort of Chloe's home. It's a risk though - her mom or David can just walk in at any moment, and Chloe would have to explain why she's kissing her 'friend' on the stairs. The mere thought doesn't even make Chloe pull away, but one thing she hates about making out is not knowing how to breathe.

Funny, she's kissed boys before getting into some really shitty nookie with them, and she still can't make out for long periods of time.

She finally pulls away, and smiles a little, noticing how Rachel's face is flushed and their lips noticeably swollen. "Wow."

"You're just full of surprises, Price," Rachel says, winking at Chloe.

Chloe shrugs, pulling Rachel upstairs until they reach Chloe's room. "What we doin'? Continuing what we did on the stairs or being boring homebodies and find a documentary on your Netflix account?"

"It's my parents' account, and why not both?"

"You said it."

Both girls actually spend the entire time watching the movie until they hear a door slam. Chloe knows that it isn't her mom, because she never slams the door, so she assumes it's David who picked up her mother and goes back to watching the documentary. When it's finished, the sun is almost completely gone and Rachel's already sleeping soundly next to Chloe on the bed. Chloe draws the sheet on Rachel's sleeping form and decides to leave the room for a few minutes. She goes downstairs and is close to opening the screen door when she sees something sparkly at the corner of her eye. Curious, Chloe turns her head towards the desk and the source is right there, glaring at her with full force. It's an engagement ring. This isn't her dad's engagement ring because her mom already pawned it for extra cash weeks ago (and Chloe was less than pleased about it) so it has to be…

No.

"This is not happening," Chloe hisses. David is not going to marry her mother. That is never going to happen for as long as Chloe gets to live in this damn house. She grabs the engagement ring, puts it in her pocket, and heads back upstairs. Her mood's too sour now.

* * *

Chloe's idly surfing the internet when she doesn't even hear a knock. Someone just waltzes right inside her room and at first she thinks it's her mom but Chloe remembers that sometimes she has consideration. She turns right around and glares at the person before her. "Ever heard of knocking, dickass?"

"Stop playing games," David commands. "Now, Where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"You know what i'm talking about," David growls. "There was an important piece of jewelry left inside the desk drawer last night and now it's gone. You're the only other person who lives here so answer me."

"Oh, you mean this piece of jewelry?" Chloe opens her own drawer and pulls out the ring, waving it for David to see. "Are you planning to propose to my mommy, David? You think you could propose to her without even asking me?"

"If I had asked you, you would say no."

"You're goddamned right I'd say no!" Chloe exclaims. "And why do you suppose that is, hmm? What, did you think that proposing to my mom was just some decision you and only you can make? I'm a part of this family too, David! I'm just as important as my mom! And even if you don't see it, her safety is hella important to me, so I don't want you treating her like you've been treating me since I was fourteen!"

"And why do you think I keep trying to discipline you? It's 'cause you don't listen!"

"You're not even my stepdad and you just decided I needed to be slapped around with a huge ass bruise on my face that I had to cover so my mom wouldn't think I got into another bar fight? She wouldn't have believed me, just like she didn't believe me when you shoved me into the dining room table, or when you wrapped your hand around my neck to stop me from going to a concert, or when you slapped me for apparently 'getting under your skin'. You're not marrying my mother."

"That's not your decision to make," David argues back. "Give me back the ring this instant."

Chloe rises up from her seat, getting as close to David's face as possible. "Or what? You'll hit me again? Go ahead. I'll make sure I won't hide the bruise this time! I'll put it on display so that my mother can see how much of a physically abusive piece of shit you are." Chloe scoffs. "Whatever, you're not worth it anyway. No matter how much you plan to stay with my mom, I'll never like or respect you."

She drops the engagement ring on the floor. "You can pick that up and leave my room."

"I'm really getting tired of you," David mutters.

"That makes both of us! I'm tired of me too! Now get the fuck outta my room!"

"I'm not gonna leave this room—" Chloe gets up and turns on her radio, cranking it loud enough to not hear whatever David has to say. She's over it, and now she's completely done with hiding things from her mother just because she wants to protect her. If Chloe honestly wants to protect her mom, she will have to stop hiding the truth, even if that means her mother would brush it off.

It takes a few minutes for David to finally get the hint and leave the room.

* * *

"I told my parents."

Chloe is surprised that Rachel managed to tell her parents before she can tell her mom. It's not like she had the time to - after her argument with David, Chloe avoids her mom in hopes David didn't tell her what happened, and also, the engagement ring sets her back. "How'd it go?"

Rachel shrugs. "Neither of them liked it. My mom, of course, is uncomfortable finding out that her daughter is a lesbian, and my dad had some choice words about you. I'm not going to listen to how he thinks you're a bad influence on me. I make my own decisions, and I made the decision to get to know you and to skip school with you. All you did was be my trusty accomplice in all this. I then asked them about my real mom, because maybe Rose knew of her or something, and they gave me nothing. My dad said something about how Rose is my real mother because she's been there since I was a toddler, and blah blah blah. He doesn't realize that this isn't about him. This is about finding my origins, my roots. He was the one who told me that woman was my real mother and he decides to just withhold information about me."

There's a shared silence. "I found David's engagement ring...two nights ago." Rachel looks at Chloe, hoping she'll continue. "We got into this argument because I took the ring and attempted to hide it, and I just don't want him marrying my mom. He doesn't deserve the title stepdad...and it sucks because he's been physically and verbally abusive to me and my mom still doesn't see it. I can be dead thanks to him, and she'll still stay with him."

"Don't say that. Your mom loves and is concerned for you. She may have a funny way of showing it, but—"

"She does have a funny way of showing it, by prioritizing her bae over her actual baby," Chloe says bitterly.

Rachel holds back a laugh and gives Chloe a stern look. "Remember that little fight we had about how your mom is trying to move on from her dead husband, and how you should too? It still applies. David may be the biggest jerk in the world, and maybe one day your mom will be able to see that, but you gotta let her grow."

Chloe would've argued to the death about how Rachel is wrong weeks ago, but she couldn't bring herself to. She knows Rachel was right that day - she just couldn't accept it. "Ok, you're right. But, again, I'm not gonna let that jerkass marry my mother."

Rachel shakes her head. She wouldn't even say anything because she's on Chloe's side on that situation. However what stops her is when they both hear a knock at the door. "Yeah, mom?"

Rachel narrows her eyes in confusion, and tilts her head to the side. "How did you know it was your mom?"

"David never knocks. He either bangs on my door or waltzes right in like he owns the joint," Chloe answers as her mother walks in.

"Hey Rachel, can I talk to my daughter alone?"

Rachel gives Chloe a knowing look. "Of course, Joyce." She kisses the top of Chloe's head. "I'll be right outside." Once Rachel leaves the room, it starts to get a little awkward but Chloe breaks the silence first. "Mom…"

"Don't worry, I suspected a little while ago," Joyce replies, referring to Chloe's recent relationship. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"I'm guessing about David," Chloe deadpans, rolling her eyes. "I can't stand him, mom. He's a dickhole."

"That dickhole proposed to me last night, Chloe."

Of course he would, Chloe thinks. "And lemme guess, you said yes." Chloe looks down at her mother's left hand, to see the engagement ring on her finger. "Mom...you did say yes…"

"This is the time for you two to get along," her mother sighs. "I want to bring him into my life with assurance that you two have some mutual understanding, and that you stop calling him out of his name."

Chloe scoffs. "Me, get along with David?" the urge to tell Joyce about what David did a few weeks ago is at the tip of her tongue, and she will not stop at nothing to expose David, but she doesn't want her mom to worry about whether her kid can get along with her soon to be husband or not. "Fine," she lies.

"Chloe, I'm serious."

"And I am too," Chloe lies again. "I will at least stop calling him nicknames for your sake."

Joyce silently relents, because she knows her daughter is stubborn. It's the least she can do. "Thank you. Now, dinner's ready. Come and get it...and if your girlfriend's still here, she can join us."

Chloe blushes. "Moooooom."

"Let's go, Chloe." Chloe sighs, and follows her mother downstairs. She may have agreed to stop some of the hostility towards David, but that doesn't mean she believes in that. She's already declared war on the dickwad a while ago.

Let the games begin.


	8. Week 7

Chloe opens her eyes Monday morning, and the way she can instantly tell it's a dream is because her room is empty except for a bed. She gets up from said bed, reaching for the door but it opens automatically, with her father standing there. "Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey."

"Uh…" Chloe knows this is a dream but her dad saying that with a tray in his hand is weird at best. The recurring raven even flies in and lands on her bed. "Thanks, dad?"

"Eat up, you have a long day ahead of ya." Chloe glances at her plate and it's full of decomposing insects. Disgusted, she drops the plate and stares up to look at her dad but he's disappeared. Chloe heads downstairs to see her dad again, looking at the screen door.

"It's almost fascinating how personality changes after something tragic happens."

"Dad?" Chloe is getting freaked out. Usually her dreams are deep and philosophical but this one seems weird and doesn't really make sense to her. "What are you talking about?"

"Life goes on, with or without the person you love. Relationships will always come and go but you will always stick by you until the day you die. We should all learn to love ourselves enough to stop depending on other people."

"I don't depend on anyone."

Her father doesn't say anything. Instead he immediately disappears and the next time Chloe opens her eyes, it's not a dream and quite frankly, she's glad it isn't. However it's the middle of the night and Chloe can't go back to sleep, and at this point, she's used to it.

* * *

"I barely slept a wink last night," Chloe tells her psychologist, right after they settle in. "I had a weird dad dream...which isn't uncommon of course but this one...was really weird. He was talking about how I need to love myself and that life goes on after tragedy."

"That's kinda philosophical for a dream," Chris says back. "How often do you have these dreams of your dad?"

"It used to be everyday. I always had this dream where I was inside the car with my dad and he was driving, only for it to crash and I wake up with a jolt. It settled to probably twice or three times a week, where sometimes I get the same dream but sometimes I would have weird dreams in different places. One time I had a dream where he was roasting marshmallows on his car wreckage while the forest fire raged on."

"Is it possible that maybe he's trying to tell you something beyond the grave?"

Chloe raises an eyebrow. "Do you believe in that religious crap?"

"I've always been a Christian girl, so, yeah, I kinda do," Chris responds, not really offended that Chloe doesn't seem to care for spiritual stuff. "You don't necessarily have to be religious to believe in spiritual things, like astrology or what's the meaning of this dream or that dream. Most of it I learned through my practice, like lucid dreams."

Chloe shrugs. "I don't know, sometimes I don't always listen to the advice that my dream dad gives me, mostly because...it's in my conscience I guess. He tried to tell me something between fire and beauty and even though I was confused, I kind of got where he came from. He always meant well, even when he was alive."

"Dreams that have some hidden meaning, whether it's your teeth falling out or you're jumping off a cliff, is your conscience telling you something. Dreams can also be traumatic experiences, but when it's not a traumatic experience...when it's teaching you something that you may have to listen to...it's always best to take it into consideration." Chris pulls out a notebook and shows it to Chloe. "This is my dream journal that I kept with me when I was a psychology student, and it was the best way to recount some of the most fucked up dreams I had as a young adult, but also for research. Plus, it helped. So this may be a good idea since you have had some dreams that you want to write about. Not saying you have to, because you're Chloe, but…"

"I hate journals, and I have a decent memory," Chloe smirks. "I used to be a stellar student for a reason."

"Like I said, it's a good idea if you want to write about them and see if there is a pattern. It's not too late to start. Also, it doesn't have to be every day."

Chloe couldn't see herself keeping a journal, but she likes that her psychologist doesn't make it a requirement, like when she was required to talk about something positive after her first session. She knows Chris would look out for her and try different ways to try to understand her the best way she can, even trying to argue on both sides even if she agrees with Chloe, and it makes her wonder why her mother didn't agree on this before...or maybe she did and Chloe was too stubborn to go to some lame ass shrink who would try to psychoanalyze her.

Whatever it is, she looks forward to Mondays now.

* * *

Chloe enters the garage, hoping to find her father's tools somewhere but comes out empty because David probably threw them out the minute he moved himself in, like some dildo. "Step-dildo is such a good nickname," Chloe ponders out loud, with a smirk. She doesn't like the future step-dildo being a future step-dildo, but if that's gonna happen then Chloe is gonna make the best of it, even to her mother's displeasure.

Deciding on just grabbing David's tools instead of searching high and low for some tools, she grabs the entire toolkit and makes a run for it until she's two blocks away from her house, and makes her way towards the junkyard, which is a very long walk and why most of the time, she hitchhikes on a train to get there, but it's the least of her problems. It's a new day and David isn't even here to catch Chloe stealing his shitty tools.

As soon as she gets there, she immediately gets to work.

Chloe spends the entire day until sundown hoping to fix an old pickup truck temporarily, wearing protective gloves and everything because if she remembers the last time, it sparked on her and she can't die yet. The car battery is just good enough to last for a while, but of course, she still needs the work done in order to make this piece of shit running so she won't depend on David or crappy public transportation to get her around Arcadia Bay, or even out of the entire state of Oregon altogether. She still wants to leave this place, and if it takes years to do it, Chloe will learn to be patient for that.

Using an old Phillips screwdriver, Chloe hotwires the car and it starts to run. "Holy shit. I gotta tell Rachel." She pulls out her phone, only to find out that it's almost eight, and she has some missed calls from her mom and also David. She doesn't concern herself with David because he's calling for the missing tools, and even if she's on her way home she has to make sure her mother doesn't get too worked up over her daughter being out all day. "Mom! How are ya?"

"Chloe, it's almost nine!" her mother reminds her, with worry and relief in her tone. "Where are you?"

"Sorry, something came up. I'm on my way home right now," Chloe replies, hoping that would soothe her mother.

"Ok, well, hurry home then...also, David asks if you've seen his toolbox around. He's been looking for it since he came home and it's been missing."

Chloe almost bursts out laughing. "Tell David it's in safe hands."

"Chloe—"

"I'm serious, mom," Chloe replies reassuringly. "I haven't done anything bad to it."

"Fine, but still, hurry home." Chloe ends the conversation at that, and gets home as quickly as she can. She places David's toolbox inside the garage and enters the house through the garage door. She laughs once she sees David's face, angrily staring her down (probably because of the missing tools). She grabs the plate of leftovers and heads upstairs to her room.

* * *

"I got the gas you requested," Rachel announces to Chloe as soon as she turns around. "Are you sure it's working?"

"Yeah, I just needed gas," Chloe answers. She tries to take the gas canister away from Rachel but she shakes her head. "Oh, thank you so much for getting gas for me."

Rachel raises an eyebrow. "And?"

" _And_ , you're the best girlfriend ever?" Chloe guesses.

"Ding ding ding, we got ourselves a winner," Rachel smiles and hands Chloe the gas.

"You're such a dork," Chloe laughs, and turns around to feed the 'new' car some gas.

"Yeah, but I'm _your_ dork," Rachel says back. "You can't argue with that."

Chloe snorts, and sets the empty gas canister aside, away from the car. "Who said I would argue against that? I think that's a valid point. Now come on, I wanna take this baby out for a ride."

"You should name your car something fierce," Rachel suggests. "Put a cool ass license plate or something...make it a Chloe Price original, don't you think?"

"I don't know, you're a lot more creative than me, to be honest."

"Ok but...license plate should definitely have a Twin Peaks reference, just saying."

"Are you kidding, Twin Peaks is my shit," Chloe exclaims. "Now that seriously has to happen."

"And you're welcome," Rachel smirks.

Chloe turns to Rachel, and kisses her on the cheek. "Thanks." She laughs to herself once she sees Rachel's face get red, which feels like an accomplishment. She made Rachel blush like a little schoolgirl with a crush. It's adorable. "Also, you're adorable when you blush. And yeah, I totally meant to say that."

"Shut up and drive," Rachel grumbles.

Chloe laughs again, and starts driving away from the junkyard. Chloe has never gotten her license, ever, and isn't sure if she needed one because her dad taught her how to drive before he died, and she never saw it as a hard task. Just keep your eyes out on the road and look out for any red and blue lights...and jaywalkers...and pedestrians in general...and the yellow light...and signs. It's pretty basic for a girl like Chloe.

She realizes that she also has to fix the radio so that she can have listening sessions with Rachel, but a mp3 player with a built in speaker is good enough. Rachel pulls Chloe's mp3 player out of her pocket upon request and clicks on the Firewalk playlist Chloe made weeks before the mill concert, which seems so long ago. It occurs to Chloe that it's almost the end of summer for Rachel, and despite this, their relationship seems to be just getting started and will not cease just because Chloe is out of school.

Rachel starts belting out the lyrics, and every so often, Chloe would just look at her. It's amazing how close they've gotten since that concert, and now they're actual girlfriends who feel like they can take over the goddamned world if they didn't have burdens like money or transportation holding them back.

However she looks too hard and finds herself screeching the truck to a halt by slamming on the brakes—and holy shit, she needs to get seatbelts if they're gonna get into situations like this—and Chloe's face to face with Nathan's shocked expression and hands out hoping that he won't get hit by a car, and Victoria with an expression that reads 'I wanna kill you Chloe Price' and to be honest, Chloe does not blame her.

However, she decides to be a douche. "Watch where you're going you rich piece of shits!"

Rachel almost immediately starts laughing, and Chloe wants to join in too until Victoria opens her mouth. "I should be saying the same to you, dropout Chloe."

"I was expelled, which was totally not my decision, but go off Victoria," Chloe clarifies. "I'm sure with me outta that school you're gonna continue running it down like the piece of shit it already is."

"Funny," Victoria smirks. "I also saw your art in the bathroom. Wells flipped his shit, but you don't care now, do you?"

Chloe scoffs. "Psh, no, I was _hoping_ he would flip his shit...probably flip his shit so hard he'd _faint_ but it seems like my plans didn't work out now did it? Also, I missed your great performance at the Tempest. Too bad you had to drug someone to do it."

"Chloe," Rachel warns.

"Let's go Victoria," Nathan mutters.

Chloe guffaws. "You and Twitch now a thing? I could've sworn you were a dyke like the rest of us, Victoria."

"Chloe!" Rachel hisses.

"What? Come on! I know you also think Victoria had some sapphic vibes with the way she—"

"We're not a thing! Aren't you two a thing anyway? Hayden claimed he saw you two at the theater."

"I knew I couldn't trust Hayden," Chloe mutters to herself, but she isn't entirely mad. Hayden is one of the only decent popular people at her old school so of course he doesn't mean any harm, and Chloe generally didn't care who told whom about her relationship with Rachel. It may reach to Steph, and she may be more bitter at Chloe for it but who cares. She hasn't talked to Steph in weeks, after the issue with Drew anyway. "But you should reconsider dating men, Chase. The closet ain't fun."

Victoria gets visibly angrier. "Ugh, whatever Chloe." Victoria grabs Nathan's wrist and they continue to the other side of the street, which is when Chloe decides to laugh.

"Chloe! You're so mean," Rachel sighs.

"A mean person who calls out Victoria Chase in the middle of the street, sure. Bitch had it coming."

"Part of me wants to staple your mouth shut and part of me wants to kiss it for finally calling her out."

"What's stopping you from doing the second part?" Chloe inquires, an eyebrow cocked in interest.

"We're in the middle of the road." Chloe groans a little and starts driving, hearing Rachel laugh next to her and her face getting hot. That was probably payback for earlier but she's not exactly mad.

* * *

"Ok, Price, let's play a game," Rachel proposes when Chloe parks the truck at the American Rust and finish their burgers and shakes from a drive in restaurant.

Chloe stares at Rachel, raising a brow slightly. "You and your games, Amber. Humor me anyway."

Rachel takes a swallow from her chocolate milkshake then sets it on the dashboard. "Never have I ever, but without alcohol. We raise up a hand and we start off with 'never have I ever' and you end it with the things you never did. If you did it, you put a finger down. If one of us have all of our fingers down, the game's over."

Chloe raises a hand. "Let's do this. But be warned, I can get hella weird."

"And i'm gonna be honest with you," Rachel replies, raising her hand along with Chloe. "I go first. Never have I ever had a crush on a teacher."

Chloe rolls her eyes. "Laaaaaame. Never have I ever watched Kill Bill."

Rachel puts a finger down. "It fucking saddens me that you never watched a Kill Bill movie. He deserved it."

"I'm a Blade Runner lesbian," Chloe claims.

"And I'm a Kill Bill lesbian. Deal with it, Price." There's a short silence. "Hm...never have I ever went longer than two days without showering."

Chloe puts a finger down. "It was four days for me. It was a dark time and I was in a dark place." Rachel groans in disgust, but then laughs. "Listen, I never did it again. I stay clean."

"Ok, Chloe. I believe you."

"Never have I ever read one book from the Harry Potter septology," Chloe says.

Rachel narrows her eyes, and a puts a finger down. "What? Seriously? I swear to god, Chloe, if you tell me next that you never heard of a Beyoncé song, our relationship is over."

"Beyoncé is hella iconic. You can't ignore her," Chloe agrees.

"Good," Rachel smirks. "Never have I ever watched the Goonies."

"You're killing me, Amber," Chloe groans, putting a finger down. "We're gonna totally watch it once we're done with this game. You have to experience the cult classic that is the Goonies. Also, never have I ever enjoyed a Christmas movie."

"Not one?" Rachel inquires. "I have at least one movie I can never truly get over, and it's also a Halloween movie." She puts a finger down and frowns at Chloe.

"The Nightmare Before Christmas is not a Christmas movie. It's time to realize the truth," Chloe argues.

"Leave my classic Hallowmas movie alone," Rachel pouts. "I got something for you. Never have I ever watched Blade Runner until I met you."

"That doesn't count because I already knew that," Chloe laughs.

"Bitch," Rachel retorts. "Fine. Never have I ever kissed a girl before we met each other."

Chloe puts a finger down. "It was Juliet Watson at a middle school party. Trevor dared me to do it and it was kinda nice. She keeps claiming she never liked it but she kissed back for thirty seconds. Uh, never have I ever learned how to do a cartwheel."

"Does teaching yourself count?"

Chloe nods. Rachel puts a finger down and smiles. "Game's almost over, Chlo. Never have I ever fell in love with a girl."

Chloe hesitantly puts a finger down, blinking back tears. "Remember that girl you saw in the pictures when you met my mom? The little girl used to be my best friend, Maxine Caulfield. I fell for her, hard. It died when she moved away, but I will never really forget it. She's the reason why I came out. I doubt she felt the same for me though."

Rachel uses her free hand to hold Chloe's free hand. "I'm sure she did, even for a little bit. You have that kind of personality that makes a girl fall for you."

Chloe smirks. "Is this your way of telling me you're in love with me, Rachel Amber?"

"No," Rachel blushes. "It's your turn."

"Never have I ever fell in love with a boy," Chloe replies.

Rachel snorts. "We're on the same plane, babe. Now...never have I ever had a crush on Victoria Chase."

"Fuck!" Chloe puts her last finger down, leaving Rachel shocked in her wake. "Don't you dare ask me how, and why. Don't you dare!"

"It's the rules, Chloe. Explain yourself."

"She was a freshman," Chloe explains. "I didn't know she was a freshman. I thought she was a transfer. I kinda digged her until she opened her mouth. End of story, leave me alone."

Rachel keeps laughing. "I can't believe you used to like Victoria! And you spent all that time being a bitch to her and saying you hated her...I would have never guessed."

"Rachel," Chloe groans.

"Ok, ok, I won't tease you anymore about it," Rachel smiles, and pulls Chloe close to her. "We all have embarrassing crushes."

"Oh? What's yours?"

Rachel thinks for a moment. "Kristine Prescott."

Chloe raises an eyebrow. "Nathan's sister? You know who she is? I was convinced she was a delusion created by Nathan himself...and that's not embarrassing."

"You're not letting me explain. I was young when I met Kristine Prescott for the first time and she was so pretty. I was convinced that she wasn't real, but she definitely was. One day I blurted out that I was in love with her and she was so weirded out that I didn't see her anymore."

"Oh man," Chloe snorts. "That is indeed embarrassing."

Rachel hits her on the shoulder. "Leave me alone. Since then, I haven't been able to face another Prescott. It doesn't matter because I hate Nathan. His father is fucking terrible too."

Chloe agrees. "I kinda enjoyed this little game. Think we should do it more often?"

Rachel smirks. "Sure, why not." She leans forward, and turns on the radio on to play her own playlist. Chloe laughs as Rachel sings along to several songs with very little care in the world.


	9. Week 8

Chloe usually feels anticipated for Mondays, but ever since Chris called her mother on Friday, asking her and David to show up for a meeting with Chloe, she feels the ultimate betrayal. She's gonna have to share her thoughts in front of her mom and a douchebag, and she rather not, especially now that she has to ride in a car with David. Her mother requested the day off in advance just so this can happen and David doesn't have training today, which makes this even worse because it's unavoidable.

What were they gonna talk about anyway? Chloe's progress? She knows how much she's improving, despite some major setbacks, like hating David even more now and still avoiding her mother on occasions. She will give Chris a piece of her mind, whether today or next Monday, even if she has to wait.

Chloe enters the all too familiar office of her psychologist but the chaise is replaced with three chairs. "What gives?"

"Your mom and her boyfriend are here and I need to make room for them," Chris explains. Chloe grumbles, but takes a seat anyways.

"You'll have to excuse my daughter, she wasn't _exactly_ happy to find out that we were coming today," Joyce explains.

"It's ok, Miss Price. I know she feels a little uneasy but I needed a session in which I wanted to talk to you two and see how your dynamics work. Chloe talks so often about you two that I have to know what she's dealing with." Both Joyce and David take a seat, while Chloe growls under her breath, hoping this session would end already. "In order to for Chloe to grow, we must understand what is really happening."

"What's going on is that I can't believe my mom and David have to show up today," Chloe argues.

"Chloe," Joyce warns.

"Is it because I told you about my dad dreams last week?" Chloe asks, ignoring her mother.

"I was gonna do this eventually, Chloe," Chris replies. "I've only really met your mom but I never met David, and you mention him a lot in our sessions."

"Let me guess, they're all negative," David deadpans.

Chloe plasters a superficial, yet petty smirk. "Christine, meet the living bane of my existence, the dildo named David."

David clenches his fists, and Chloe hopes that he does something stupid in front of her mother so that both Chris and her mom can see how destructive he is. "No matter what, it seems like you will never change."

Chloe frowns and glares at David. "How so, David? Just because I don't like you, nor do I like the idea of you being with my mom and moving in our house, it doesn't mean I'm not actively trying here. When I come here, I let out what I feel about things in life and the people in my life with minimal judgment, and you being here is making this office less of a safe space than what I intended."

"You keep trying to fight me, and i'm trying to help you be a better person!" David argues.

"You're helping me? _You're_ helping _me_!" Chloe laughs bitterly, and grips the arms of her seat, contemplating on whether she should call him out or not.

However, Joyce beats her to the punch. " _Enough!_ Can we have a civil conversation with the psychologist instead of trying to fight each other?"

"Hardly," Chloe replies. "I don't even know why he's here. He's not my father, and he will _never_ be my father even if you do end up marrying him, so we can stop pretending to play house all of a sudden."

"You two are getting married?" Chris inquires, surprised and a little perturbed.

"Surprise," Chloe says sarcastically. "I was gonna mention this soon but to be honest, I thought my mom would've dumped him by then."

"Chloe!" Joyce exclaims. "Remember what I told you when we did talk of this?"

"I told you I'd stop calling him names," Chloe points out. "I _never_ said I was gonna sing kumbaya and join hands. As far as i'm concerned, I still don't like him and I think you can do a lot better."

"And yet, you still call me out of my name," David growls.

"When have I called you out of your name ever since you proposed to my mom, other than today? And if you're referring to me calling you David, you must be off your rocker to think I would start calling you _daddy_ ," Chloe snaps. "You know what, i'm tired. I really am. I can't pretend to be some superficial little girl, complicit to the demands of some militant douchebag who can barely function like a living adult! I want you to be a decent human being! You think i'm out to get you, and yeah that may be true, but i'm just looking out for my mom no matter how many times she puts you first. After my dad died and Maxine fucking Caulfield moved to god knows where and silently told me to fuck off, my mom is the only person in this fucking hell of a town I'd expect to have my back. Instead she meets you and it's all about you. David this, David that. I'm slowly going through a deep depression, crying my eyes out, self harming myself, hoping to get a text back from my best friend or something, and instead of my mom being a _mom_ , she's instead focusing all of her time and energy on this dipshit!"

"Chloe!" Chris exclaims.

It doesn't matter, because Joyce gets up from the chair and leaves the room in tears. Chloe sighs heavily, holding back her own tears and refusing to look at anyone. David recovers from his initial shock and hopes to catch up to Joyce by leaving the room.

"Well, that was shitty," Chloe sighs. "Thanks for bringing my mom, and someone I don't even like, to your office to do the opposite of whatever the fuck you think was going to happen."

"That was not what I was trying to achieve," Chris defends, and it's the first time Chloe has ever seen her really disappointed. She always manages to keep her cool, but today that isn't the case. "You don't know how much I want you to heal, Chloe. That's why I brought both of them here, so we can address the issues you have with them. What you don't realize is that a lot of why people act a certain way is because of their influences and the impact that their family have on them. You told me that your mom spent a lot of time with David, which is why you resent her, and I understand why you feel resentment because you had no one by your side during your bereavement process, but you need to realize that your mom is coping too."

"She met David weeks after her husband was buried at the cemetery," Chloe explains.

"Chloe," Chris says flatly.

Chloe doesn't say anything. She starts scratching her wrist again, something she hasn't done since her first session. She can feel herself shutting down again, now that she's made her mother cry and her psychologist is disappointed at her. Maybe this time, Joyce will give up on her and hope for the best...maybe something will knock Chloe dead, and she'll be happy. She'll marry David and have another child, a decent child, and Chloe will be a distant memory. Maybe Chloe would take her own life instead...

Fuck, When was the last time she has had a thought like that? No, she can't think about that in the one place she feels safe to open up. She suddenly gets up and leaves the office, ignoring Chris' pleas for her to come back. She heads outside, noticing that David's car is gone. She reaches for her wrist again and scratches it so hard it leaves a mark.

* * *

Chloe hasn't left her room in three days. She ignores Rachel's frantic calls and messages, eventually turning it off and lays in bed. She can barely function after the accident she had outside her psychologist's office - it's been a while since Chloe has self harmed, and it was a really hard journey to resist scratching her wrists. She used to cut her nails down to the bed to prevent scratching and it worked long enough for her to cease the urge but then, that happened.

Fuck, it felt so bad doing it again. She could barely look at herself when she got home and cried the entire time she washes her bloody wrist. The burning sensation of open wounds does nothing for the pain Chloe feels for relapsing, throwing away two years of staying clean, especially after her close calls in the past.

She hears a knock at her door, and she knows exactly who it is. "Go away."

"No."

Chloe sucks her teeth, gets up from the bed, and opens the door. "What do you want, Rachel?"

"You've been ignoring my messages, what do you _think_ I want?" Rachel inquires back. "I had to come here to find out if you really died but instead you just ghost me."

"I'm sorry," Chloe sighs.

Rachel stares at Chloe, and notices how really bad Chloe looks right now. "Did you even sleep? When's the last time you ate, or showered? Joyce told me you haven't left the room for anything."

"Oh, so she hasn't given up on me yet," Chloe rolls her eyes.

"Chloe, what the fuck?"

"My psychologist thought it was a great idea to invite my mom and David to my session on Monday," Chloe explains. "I kinda snapped and said some hurtful things. I was mostly angry that David was there because of course, i don't like him and I don't feel comfortable being in his presence, but my mom refuses to hear me out when I say that i'm not comfortable with him."

Rachel furrows her eyebrows. "Did you tell her about what he did to you?"

"I couldn't. She'll definitely not believe me. She keeps thinking that he's going to be the positive person in my life. I fucking messed up, Rach. I messed up again and I…" Rachel immediately hugs Chloe, allowing her to cry on her shoulder. "I didn't even have the urge when David hit me you know? Fuck, i'm such an idiot!"

"No, you're not," Rachel replies. "It's ok to relapse, Chlo. You can fall and make mistakes. It's not an easy task to get better but you get back up and you come back stronger than ever...ok? I believe in you."

"I thought I was stronger than that this time."

"You are, but sometimes, shit happens. Don't beat yourself up for it." She lifts Chloe's head up and gives her a passionate look. "Be the Chloe I know you are. Come on, go take a shower and I'll take you out for lunch."

Chloe gives a small smile. "Fine, just don't take me to some shitty place."

"Why would I ever take you to some shitty place? You know me, Price."

Chloe chuckles, and heads to her bathroom once Rachel heads back downstairs.

* * *

Since Rachel couldn't drive and Chloe is the only one who can drive, Rachel has to provide directions while Chloe drives and the process is tedious, enough for them to get there in an hour when it was actually a fifteen minute drive. Chloe occasionally catches Rachel looking at her wrist, and Chloe almost regrets neglecting to wear her bracelets, but it's not like she doesn't know. She's the only one who knows of the fresh scars anyway.

The place is small but it's not too bad either. Apparently they serve breakfast all day which is ideal for Chloe because as soon as she watches a waiter carry a plate of pancakes, her stomach growls and the realization of not eating a full meal for the past few days dawns on her. "I'm so hungry."

"You would be if you've been consuming chips and water for two days," Rachel frowns. "I think you should talk to your mom again. She might be able to hear you out now, and she's worried about you."

"I wanna believe that, Rach," Chloe replies. "But she hasn't heard me out in so long it wouldn't surprise me if she thinks I'm crazy again."

"When you were upstairs, I was talking to her," Rachel tells her. "She told me what you told me about the meeting, and she thought it gave her a reason to start listening to you more."

Sometimes it surprised Chloe how much Rachel and her mother have gotten close since they started dating. She couldn't even look at James, let alone talk to him, but Rachel can easily have a conversation with her mom about anything, including their favorite subject - Chloe. However, if someone can convince her mom to listen to her, it would be Rachel. "I'll try."

Rachel grabs both of Chloe's hands and smiles at her. "Thank you."

Chloe hears a throat being cleared, so she turns around to see the waiter waiting for them to order. Chloe and Rachel haven't even glanced at their menus since they sat down. "Uh, can you give us a couple more minutes?"

Once Chloe gets home from her date, she goes straight to her mom's room, finding her mother sitting down, looking at a picture frame. "Can I come in?"

Joyce stares at her daughter for a few seconds, and then nods. Chloe enters the room and sits at the edge of the bed. It's silent for a few minutes, both women finding a way to say something, and realizing that they can't get to the point first, her mother opens her mouth. "I miss your father too."

"It surely doesn't seem like you do," Chloe says bitterly.

"I know you put the picture back on the dresser, and I would've been mad at you for it." Joyce sets the picture to the side and grabs her daughter's hand. "But, I miss him too. I miss him probably a lot more than you do. I cried myself to sleep for months, even after I met David. There are times where I can't sleep because I keep thinking about your father. And even as I move on and hopefully marry the new love of my life, I know I will still miss your father."

"This isn't just about dad," Chloe says. "This is about the person you chose to spend the rest of your life with a second time. Mom, he's not your knight in shining armor. He's terrible with me, and it's only a matter of time before he does something to you, and I don't want it to escalate to that."

"Chloe…"

"Don't even try to argue with me on this. "

"He was the one who suggested you go to therapy," her mother points out. "I agreed because I thought it would help you, and it is in different ways. You started talking to me again, you didn't even hide your relationship with Rachel...you weren't even self harming."

"But that doesn't mean he's a good person," Chloe argues. "Mom, please, at least think about the warning signs I've been giving you since day one, and if you still want to be with him, then I can't be here anymore. He makes me uncomfortable, mom. I thought you would listen to me when I said that at fourteen, but you still kept seeing him…" When she sees Joyce reaching over to wipe her tears, it makes her cry even more. "I thought you gave up on me or something."

"I would never give up on you! I'm so sorry for making you feel that way." Chloe shakes her head and sniffles - her mother is actually listening to her and it's getting even more overwhelming. "I'll try to do better, ok? If I see him do anything to you, I'll take it seriously this time. Just _please_ don't ever feel like I gave up on you...and please…don't hurt yourself again."

Chloe nods, and hugs her mother. She doesn't even care that she's sobbing on her mom's shirt, and she doesn't care either.


	10. Week 9

Chloe hasn't thought about self harming for the entire week. However, when she enters her psychologist's office it comes back as a passing thought. She opts to wear bandages and snip off her fingernails in hopes she doesn't get the urge and when she does, she won't leave a mark. She doesn't even know what to talk about until she sits on the chaise, and even though she missed it last week, she's still tense being here.

"You seem tense. You wanna talk about it?"

Chloe sighs. She might as well get it over with. "I used to scratch myself on the wrist with my nails after my dad died and my best friend left. When my mom found out, it made her cry, and I hated seeing my mom cry so I cut my fingernails down to the nail bed in an attempt to stop doing it. I haven't done it for almost two years, until last week at the meeting. It didn't feel as good as it used to and I felt terrible for throwing almost two years of staying clean down the drain. Just being here when I started doing it makes me tense."

"Ok, so let's go outside," Chris suggests, gets up and makes her way to the door. Chloe thought she was kidding at first but seeing Chris' serious look, she follows her psychologist out of the room.

They don't actually go outside. They go to a different room, which is a lot more calmer than the other room. Chloe sits right on the first chaise she sees, and Chris pulls up a desk chair to sit near Chloe. "You never mentioned self harm in _any_ of our sessions."

"I didn't because I didn't think it was important," Chloe replies. "I haven't done it in almost two years, so I thought it was just some phase until I realized it wasn't because I did it again."

"Chloe, self harm is _not_ a phase. It's something serious. I'm glad you haven't been doing it again, but if you ever have issues with staying clean, I want you to tell someone. If you can't access someone, think of ways to not harm yourself, like drawing flowers on your arm or getting a notebook and coloring your self harm as opposed to actually doing it."

"I guess I gotta take you up on that offer to start journaling," Chloe deadpans, with a smirk.

Chris chuckles a little - now there's the Chloe she knows and loves. "Ok, glad you're back."

"Glad to be back," Chloe agrees. "Also...never invite David to any of our sessions ever again."

"I think that's a good idea, because you said something about your safe space feeling less of a safe space due to him being there."

Chloe nods. "Yeah, he's...not a good person and I've been trying to let my mother hear me out on it but she never listened...until now. Even though last week was shitty, it kinda helped in a way. It made my mother listen to me for a change. I felt like my mom was finally taking me seriously after all these years. She might even leave him if he tries something. And if he does try something, I hope it's on me. If he ever touches my mom I'll kill him with his own gun."

"You are really protective of your mom."

"I have to be, now more than ever. When my dad died, it was just us two, because my ex-best friend left me after a week of my dad dying. We only had each other, but then she met David and I was on my own. Then I met him and that's when things just got worse because I was always uncomfortable with him, even when he tried to be nice. I was still affected by my dad, and him being there wasn't helping."

When the session ends, Chloe realizes how she really is protective of her mom regardless of their relationship, and she will continue to be, even after being shitty to her for too long.

* * *

As the week progresses, it occurs to Chloe that the summer will be ending and she won't be going back to school starting in August. Even though she never really enjoyed school, it was always an excuse to get out of the house. She could pretend to go to school and then skip class to go to some concert, or to stay home and smoke weed while either the television on or a playlist playing throughout the house, and possibly the neighborhood.

Chloe cannot do that anymore because 1) school is out and 2) she's been expelled from one of the only few high schools in Arcadia Bay. It occurs to her that Blackhell Penitentiary is the only school she knew of, until she starts searching schools again and there's a nearby school named Arcadia Bay Magnet. She hated Blackwell but maybe attending night school at the Magnet could help her out, and maybe she won't be a total loser.

She's not gonna sign up yet. However, she does think it would be a perfect time to actually get her license now that she's definitely not in school. She thinks these will be small accomplishments in her life as opposed to staying home and brooding in her own depression about not being in school, her mom's relationship with David, and her unresolved bereavement with her dad.

Chloe even takes up journaling a little bit, writing here and there about the thoughts she wants to write down, drawing ugly red lines when she thinks of something negative, and writing about her peculiar dreams. It's a messy journal but it gives Chloe some control with her life, and she wonders why she hasn't done this before.

She sets her journal on her desk, and starts to get ready for Rachel's birthday.

Thanks to Rachel's dad being very popular with the city, she is able to get both of them reservations at the Rue Altimore, which is the most expensive restaurant in the city. Chloe still doesn't understand how Rachel got reservations, or even the funds available to afford the place and Rachel doesn't explain it, so Chloe expects some dine and dash action from Rachel. Then again, she may not and she might've swiped her dad's credit card without him looking. Either way, Chloe expects some suspicious shit from her peculiar girlfriend.

After looking in her closet extensively for hours, she can't find anything. "Goddamnit!" Chloe doesn't own anything fancy nor does she feel the need to. She has never really been girly, even when she used to steal her mom's makeup to sneak in some eye shadow or some liner to embody her emo phase from eighth grade to the end of her freshman year at Blackhell. She can't wear her funeral clothes either - she's gotten taller and bustier since she had to bury her dad and even if she can wear it, she wouldn't.

"Ok Chloe...she didn't exactly say I have to wear something fancy so you can wear your most formal jeans and your most formal shirt and probably a pair of your dad's old loafers you refused to throw away that one time…" and she does exactly that. She looks at herself in the mirror, and despite feeling crappy for owning next to nothing in formalwear, she at least tried to impress.

Once Chloe heads downstairs, her mother comments how nice she looks. "I tried but I own nothing fancy."

"I could've lended you one of my fancy dresses," Joyce suggests.

"Ew, no, mom," Chloe cringes. "I'm not wearing mom clothes."

Joyce gives Chloe an affronted look. "Mom clothes, huh? I'm gonna remember that."

"I love you too mom," Chloe grins, and heads for the door.

"Tell Rachel I said happy birthday!" It's the last thing Chloe hears before heading to her truck two blocks down. She quickly drives to Rachel's place, where she's waiting patiently by the front of her door, and with the way Chloe is looking at her, she is both mesmerized and underdressed. Nevertheless, Chloe opens the door for Rachel and pats the seat next to her.

"Happy birthday," Chloe greets.

"Thanks!" Rachel enters the car and does a once-over. "Chloe, I thought you owned something formal."

Chloe gives Rachel a deadpan look. "I don't, so I decided to wear whatever I could find in my closet."

"You could've told me. I would've lended you one of my fancy clothes."

"Ew, no, Rach," Chloe cringes, feeling a sense of deja vu. "I'm fine. It's not like people are gonna notice I'm wearing jeans unless they look close enough. It's black. Plus, I can't pull a dress off."

Rachel doesn't believe that. "I didn't say you were gonna wear a dress. Come on. We're going to find you something."

"Rach, no—"

Chloe doesn't finish her sentence because she's already leaving the truck. Chloe has no choice but to follow Rachel, praying to herself that Rachel doesn't think about dressing Chloe in some designerwear that she couldn't pull off as much as Rachel. Plus, walking inside Rachel's home is just as chaotic as the last time. She could attribute to the fact that her real mother is out there somewhere, and her father doesn't like Chloe or the fact that she's dating his daughter, but that doesn't matter. When Chloe enters Rachel's room, she watches as Rachel pulls out several pieces of clothing, consisting of a blue blouse and slacks. "Ok, now that's better."

"You think I would force you in a dress? What do you take me for, Price?" Rachel smirks and thrusts the clothes in Chloe's direction. "The shoes are doable. Now hurry up and get dressed. We're probably already late. I'll even leave the room."

Chloe watches Rachel leave, and she gets to work. She peels off her jeans and tattered shirt, replacing it with the satin blouse and slacks. She checks herself out and actually feels good in the clothes she's wearing.

Rachel peeks inside the room after hearing less shuffling. "Hey, you done?" She glances at Chloe, and widens her eyes slightly. "Wow, you look...wow...I didn't think you could pull off my clothes…"

"Me neither," Chloe replies, feeling a little self conscious at Rachel gawking at her. "Let's go now."

Chloe grabs her clothes from the floor and leaves Rachel's room, with Rachel following her. They're already late for their reservation, but it's not like Rachel can pull some strings to secure their seat over there. As soon as Chloe drives off, Rachel calls the restaurant and lies about them being in traffic, just so they can secure their spot.

It takes them a while to get there, and as soon as they reach, they get their table (since it isn't as busy as usual) and notice how nice the place looks. Chloe has only heard of this place because on occasions, her father took her mother there for their dates, while Chloe stayed at Max's house for a sleepover that usually involved watching Pirates of the Caribbean until they can fall asleep or sneaking to get a taste of Ryan's hidden stash of rum. Those were moments that Chloe dearly missed because not only did she have her best friend, she had her father. What would actually happened if they were still here? Chloe wouldn't have been expelled from Blackwell, but she would've still hated the school, along with Max. Max would've definitely lived on campus while Chloe would stay home but they would still have great time together. The house wouldn't feel like it isn't done because her dad always did some repairs on it. Chloe would've gotten a pickup truck of her own, hand picked by her dad, instead of finding an old truck at the American Rust and fixing it enough so it can work for the time being. Who knows when this truck will stop working.

She probably would have met Rachel along the way, probably because Max would've pulled Chloe to go see the Tempest (because Max likes Shakespeare) and Chloe would've developed a crush the moment she laid eyes on Rachel. Max too, if she were observant.

All three of them would've been friends, along with Steph and Mikey, because Chloe thinks they're fucking cool, and maybe Drew because he might think he's too cool to hang out with freshmen but then he'll warm up to Max real quick. Her mother wouldn't have to worry about Chloe's depression and self harm, nor would she worry about Chloe getting into some messed up shit. Things would've been ok from the jump.

However, those are just dreams. Chloe only had Rachel as an actual friend, and they are way past friendship at this point. Her mother worries about her because Chloe isn't the same girl she was when her dad was alive. Blackhell can kiss her ass, and the classmates aren't even that great for Chloe to have lasting friendships with them.

Chloe almost spends an hour with Rachel inside the restaurant, talking and laughing. They can do this anytime but this is a lot more romantic because they're sitting under the moonlight, with only a few other couples with them, and their waitress doesn't care that they are the youngest customers tonight as long as they don't get the endless wine.

"I want the endless wine so badly," Rachel sighs, then giggles.

"You and wine? Again? Remember the last time you had a bottle of wine in your hand?" Chloe replies. The last time Rachel had wine in her system, she was a fucking mess. Chloe didn't understand her mood swing until Rachel explained that the man kissing a woman was her dad kissing someone who isn't her mother, but that woman is her mother. Nevertheless, Rachel and wine is not a good mix. "You can't handle your fermented liquor, Amber."

"Bite me, Price."

Chloe raises an eyebrow, and smirks. "Never pegged you for the biting type."

"Oh my god, Chlo, shut up," Rachel groans.

"And pass up an opportunity to bite Miss Rachel Dawn Amber?" Chloe jokes, the smirk on her face never faltering.

Rachel couldn't help but get redder by the second. "You are so embarrassing."

"You embarrassed yourself," Chloe replies. "Plus, I'd be more than happy to bite you. I won't draw blood, but—" Chloe's phone ringing interrupts her mid sentence. Whoever the hell this is better be important. "Hello?"

"Chloe, are you there?"

"It's me. What's going on? Are you ok?"

"I think so...I was fighting with David and it got messy—"

Chloe feels anger rising in her very being upon hearing the words 'fight' and 'David'. This was the very thing she was scared of. "Mom...hang on tight. We'll be there."

"Chloe, what's going on?" Rachel inquires.

"We gotta go, now."

"Ok, let me just pay for everything." Rachel flags down their waitress and asks for the check. Her leg bounces with angry anticipation to get home and check on her mother. What even happened between Chloe leaving the house and now that possessed David into hurting her mother, or at least, get into a bad argument with her? She really hopes it was just a bad argument. She can deal with David beating on her, but when it comes to her mother, that's when all bets were off.

Despite her blind anger, Chloe can definitely see Rachel paying for the whole thing with her father's credit card. Of course that would happen. What teenager would afford the Rue Altimore?

But once everything was paid for, both girls head for Chloe's truck, however they couldn't get there fast enough because Chloe only temporarily fixed the car in hopes that she'll see a real mechanic soon, and if she does something drastic, the car can possibly fall apart. So they have to go as fast as they can, ten meters below the speed limit.

However they get there, and Chloe is the first one to leave the car, Rachel following immediately. Chloe opens the door and luckily, everything in the hallway is intact. "Mom? Where are you?"

"Upstairs," her mother says back.

"Stay here," Chloe commands. Rachel nods, and stays in place while Chloe runs upstairs and goes inside her mother's room. The picture containing Chloe with her parents is now ripped in half, and her mother is sitting on the bed with her hands on her face.

"Mom? What happened?"

"I asked David if he ever did anything to make you uncomfortable, because I wanted to hear it from him, and he admitted to hitting you multiple times. I was angry and yelled at him for it. No one should lay a hand on my daughter like that. I don't even believe in that. We started arguing and he threw the picture frame almost over my head to the wall, and ripped the picture in half. It's the only picture I have of William left over…"

"That son of a bitch," Chloe growls. "Where is he?"

"I kicked him out," she replies. "I don't know exactly where he is, but he's away from the both of us, and that's good enough for me."

Chloe sighs in relief. As long as he's away from this house, Chloe can feel a lot safer. "I can't believe he ripped up the picture. Did he really think this would threaten his family or some shit?"

"I don't know."

"I'll clean it up. You just get some sleep." Chloe kisses the top of her mom's head, and heads to get the broom with the dust pan. She quickly cleans up the mess, and that's when she notices an engagement ring - the same engagement David gave to her mother, but she probably threw it at him during their argument. She smirks, and places the ring on the desk. She heads back downstairs to see Rachel leaning against the kitchen counter. "Hey."

"What happened?"

"Uh, mom found out about David hitting me, because he told her himself, and they got into a fight that resulted in my mom throwing the engagement across the room and David breaking a picture in her room."

Rachel frowns. "They're broken up?"

"I guess so," Chloe replies. This is not the best ending to a great date. In fact, it's the worst. She wants to kill David for endangering her mother. It was totally fine if he unleashed his anger towards Chloe, because that means he wouldn't think of hurting her mom. "I'm relieved, but at the same time, i'm angry at David. That son of a bitch put my mother in danger. I'd kill him."

"But you don't have to," Rachel assures, putting a hand on Chloe's shoulder. "If he knew better he'd stay away, but maybe this is your good sign. It should've happened on a different day though."

Chloe smiles. "Yeah I know. How dare David interrupt your birthday like that with his blind rage?"

Rachel giggles. "Exactly my point."

Chloe reaches over and hugs Rachel. "Want me to take you home or you wanna stay the night?"

"I think it's best you'd be with your mom, so I'll go," Rachel answers.

"Alright, come on." Chloe drops Rachel off at her home and drives back to check on her mom. She opens the door to see her mother silently sobbing on her pillow, and the sound breaks Chloe's heart. She will do anything to never hear her mother cry again.

She goes to her room, changes into something comfortable, and goes right back to her mom's room, and slips right next to her. "Chloe?"

"It's ok, mom. I'm here."


	11. Week 10

When Chloe goes to therapy today, she is almost bouncing on her heels. Ever since the issue with her mom and David, he has officially moved out since yesterday night and it makes Chloe more than happy to watch him take boxes upon boxes of his items inside his car and move the fuck out of the house. Now that her mother finally sees how much of a monster David was to her, Chloe feels like she can trust her mom again. She can surely get her life back on track without David bringing her down.

However, she knows David hasn't lost his job at Blackwell yet. She may not be there anymore, but Rachel is, and a bunch of other students who may not deserve his wrath. School starts in August, but she can't ruin his life further by making him lose his job. But she won't let him take his anger out on people that don't deserve it because, to be honest, David seems like the type to take his anger out on people.

She was talking to Rachel about it yesterday after David left the house, and Rachel assures Chloe that he won't touch her. He's still gonna be in training when school starts. It still makes Chloe hella uneasy.

"My mom broke up with David," Chloe tells her psychologist to start off things.

Chris can at least contain some of her relief but Chloe can definitely see it. "What happened?"

"David admitted that he used to hit me and she did not react well to it," Chloe replies, scratching her neck a little. "Nature took its course right after that. But, he ripped up a picture that had me, my mom, and my dad on it, so he was really insecure about my previous family. He knows no matter what, he will never be able to replace my dad, even if he doesn't want to." She relaxes more on the chaise, thinking about how much turmoil David has caused since she was fourteen. She never liked him, and it showed. However, her mom never listened and continued to see him and that's when she started getting more angry, like she couldn't trust anyone anymore.

Then the fights began. Chloe often butted heads with David, to the point where he would get physical. The first time it happened, Chloe cried for what seemed like an eternity and started scratching her wrists. She kept on until her mom found out, but David never stopped fighting her. She often got bruises and other marks on other parts of the body, places she can easily hide, but when David punched her on the face, it left a large mark, and it's the first time he ever hit her anywhere above the neck. "So where is he now?"

Chloe smirks. "He's gone now. He moved out yesterday."

"And I already know how that makes you feel."

"So much relief," Chloe chuckles. "It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. But then, I started to remember that he's gonna start working at my former school, and as much as I hate that place, there's some good kids there and they don't really need to be exposed to that kind of shit, in my opinion. I know David, he's not good with kids, myself included."

"If you really feel he might endanger some of the kids at your school, you should tell them just to make sure they watch their backs and not get into too much trouble, unless they're troublemakers."

Chloe scoffs a little. Most of the kids at Blackhell are little hellraisers. The Vortex Club used to be one club that accepted everyone but now it looks like Nathan and Victoria are gonna acquire the club and change it to an elitist club for popular students and those associated. Also, everyone has their own little vices, Chloe included. It was pot and alcohol for her. Finding out other people's vices is the real mystery.

For some people who knew the principal, he's a heavy drinker, thanks to the stressful job of being a principal. Chloe didn't feel an ounce of pity for him because he does nothing to solve anything for the sake of his students, and she surely doesn't feel pity now, now that she's no longer a student.

Then there was the shady shit between the principal and the entirety of the Prescotts. It's no secret that Sean Prescott had something to do with Nathan being on the football team, whether Nathan wanted to join or not, or whether Nathan can play. Nathan was way more artistic and apparently his father isn't a fan, or maybe he wants his son to do stupid shit. Whatever it is. Ever since his father donated to the school so that they can build the dormitory, he thinks he owns the school.

Speaking of the football team, they do drugs constantly, and Drew was their supplier. Everyone basically sucked and had their own shit to deal with, and when Chloe thought Rachel Amber was immune to this shit, she thought wrong - a cheating father, a mysterious biological mother, and an affinity to control fire. "Everyone's a fucking troublemaker. Most of them do a shitton of drugs at parties and sporting events. That dickhole's gonna have a ball at that school...he might just propose surveillance cameras everywhere, invading people's privacy or some shit. I know i'm not supposed to care, but my girlfriend still goes there. He might just do some real crazy shit and the students have to pay for it."

Chloe realizes her time is up after she hears a familiar buzzer. Shit. This was definitely a time consuming topic. "Same time next week?" Chris questions.

"Yeah, maybe I might revisit this topic."

* * *

When Chloe wakes up the next morning, she looks around her room and sighs upon looking at how bad her room is. When has it been cleaned, and stayed clean? It isn't as bad as people would make it seem but it's still terrible. Chloe always knew that the room isn't really kept to its best but she lacked the energy to clean it every week like she did every Saturday, because her father would remind her.

Nevertheless, she tries to make it as organized as possible. There's too many posters around but she keeps the ones of her favorite bands, like Firewalk. There are also things that she keeps, like her rainbow middle finger statue...which was something her mother didn't like but represented Chloe at best - gay and unbothered. She figures she can find some paint inside the garage to paint over the height chart since it's not going to be easily washable, or maybe she can paint the room to something that isn't white. A black room doesn't sound bad in her opinion.

Shit, a black room actually looks hella rad. Chloe might look into that.

When she's done cleaning her room for the first time in probably years, she extracts a large bag of trash and sends it downstairs. The sounds of plastic hitting wooden stairs startles her mother downstairs. "Chloe? What are you doing up there?"

"Taking out the trash, of course," Chloe replies.

"What trash?"

Chloe shakes her head. "From my room?" She opens the front door and puts the trash bag in the bin, then heads back inside. She ignores the surprised look on her mom's face and goes back upstairs, noticing how more...organized her room looks. She feels terrible that she messed up her height chart instead of painting it over but her dad and her ex-best friend are gone, never to be seen again, and was she more than depressed about it? Of course she was.

But she's not gonna keep dwelling on it. That wouldn't solve anything but to get Chloe upset again.

When her mom tells her she's going to do a couple hours, Chloe gets immensely bored within an hour of staying inside the house. She already threw away her shitty weed after quitting cold turkey and she surely isn't going to do anything else so she leaves the house hoping that her mom would keep her busy at the Two Whales Diner.

She decides to walk, of course, because her mother doesn't know about the truck and she's not explaining why she has an old ass pickup truck, plus she still needs to fix it because it's only temporarily fixed for what she constitutes to a few weeks. And also the walk isn't so bad to her. Nobody walks in this town anymore, especially with public transportation and everyone getting a license by age 16. But Chloe's sixteen and she still hasn't gotten her license, or her permit really, but those come with time...and driving isn't that hard for her, thanks to her dad teaching her how to drive.

The diner has its usual customers as usual, and Chloe just sits at her usual booth until her mom comes up to her. "You're that bored at the house? Where's Rachel?"

"I don't always have to be with my girlfriend, mom," Chloe replies. "But if you must know, she's busy with her parents."

"I'm just asking is all."

Chloe hears the door open and close, and watches as a familiar face approach the front table. "I should get that." Her mother goes back to the counter and Chloe hopes to god that they won't be able to see her sitting there. However, she knows luck is not on her side when the person glances at her, and glares at her. "Shit."

It takes them a while, but they get there with whatever strength and speed crutches can allow them to and sit down opposite from Chloe. "Funny seeing you here, Price."

"Joyce Price is my mother," Chloe quips. "Listen, Drew—"

"I already heard enough from you," Drew growls. "You had no right to go inside my room and take something that isn't yours."

"And you have no right getting yourself involved with shitty drug dealers either," Chloe argues back. "You may not like me for the shit I did, and trust me, I don't like myself for it either, but both of us got people we owe. Both our drug dealers know each other and we definitely know how shitty they are, but you shouldn't have kept that money. You would've died."

"And you don't think I would have rather died, so that my brother and my dad have a place to rest?"

"Your dealer would've came for your brother next!" Chloe defends. "Drug dealers do not care about you, or your family, or your well being. They care about supply and demand. You know this, because he just broke your knee. The football team only cared about what you were giving them because it boosts up their performance and makes them invincible, but they don't give a shit about you. You can stay mad at me all you want, and trust me, that is the least of my problems, but I'm not about to let you blame me entirely for shit you did."

"You...are still a fucking trip," Drew laughs bitterly. "You don't think this is all your fault?"

"Oh no, it is my fault, but pointing fingers isn't gonna solve anything! None of us are happy with the actions we did in the past. There are other ways to—"

"Other ways to what? I can't get a job in this town, I lost my athletic scholarship, and my brother can't attend Blackwell without tuition. He's gonna have to go to a local school, but he can't go home to a house, because we don't have a house. We're homeless, Chloe. That's what you're not understanding. Nathan's dad made it impossible for my dad to get a basic job, and you took the only other alternative route I had to get up outta here with my family just to pay off some stupid debt."

Chloe furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "You have no other family members?"

Drew sighs a little, his face softening. Finally, Chloe thinks for a moment. "My dad's siblings don't talk to each other. Apparently they don't like each other...never liked each other. It's a big contrast to the way I treat Mikey. I love him more than anything, and yet my dad can't even speak about his siblings like that."

"That's tough," Chloe frowns.

"Plus, they live far away...somewhere in Canada, last time I checked."

"Canada is a lot better than Arcadia Bay," Chloe says. "I think you should talk to them. They can't hate you or Mikey, no matter how much beef they have with your dad. They still gotta make up though."

"I got friends here though."

"That doesn't mean you have to seize all contact with them. You have their numbers right?" Drew nods quickly. "Good. You make sure you call or text them everyday or every week so that they don't feel like you ghosted on them, and unless your dad's siblings live on the east side, a trip from Canada to here isn't that far."

"They are on the east side, but it's probably my only other alternative. I just wanna get the fuck out of this town. There's too much shit going on here. It wouldn't surprise me if some supernatural tornado just came in and wiped this town to nothing at the end."

"Me neither." No matter how much she had to stay here for her mom and for other factors preventing her on leaving Arcadia Bay, she still wants to leave this place. "Just consider it, Drew. You never know what could happen unless you try."

"I guess. I gotta go, my brother's gonna throw a fit if I don't come back."

Chloe smirks. "Tell him I said hi."

"Will do," Drew smiles back and goes back to the counter to pick up his order and leave.


	12. Week 11

Drew manages to call his uncle who expressed nothing more than concern for both kids and told them that he can stay with them, along with Mikey and their dad. Chloe is so that worked out, because everyone deserves to get out of this damn town, including herself. Max definitely got out when she did and as much as Chloe hates Max for ghosting her since she moved, she isn't here to witness the shitty problems of Arcadia Bay.

When she walks inside her therapist's office, her thoughts of Drew bring up a topic she wants to talk about, albeit a little random because she wanted to revisit the topic of David working at Blackwell.

"I could _never_ really keep much friends at Blackwell," Chloe says, reminiscing of her days at Blackwell before her expulsion. "Aside from Rachel, the people I interacted with were either acquaintances or they were connections from my drug using, concert going past."

"What about that boy you mentioned before? Eliot?"

Chloe already saw that coming. "Eliot...is a creep. I don't want to talk about it."

"And your drug use?"

"I haven't even looked at drugs for weeks now," Chloe replies. "I used to have a dealer, who would usually hook me up with drugs if I wanted to, but now I don't see a reason to keep contacting him anymore. I wanted to get sober as soon as I stepped inside this very office. Anyways, I don't really wanna talk about him, or my drug use."

Chris nods, understanding that it's a topic for another day. "Let's go back to your days at Blackwell, then. You mentioned that you didn't really have much friends other than Rachel, and that is a little concerning. Did you not connect with them or you didn't have the drive to?"

"I was still a little hurt about Max, so I didn't want to trust another person with friendship, only to find out they are gone from my life. As you mentioned before, I have a bit of an abandonment issue."

Chris laughs. "You _still_ remember that."

"You understood me on my second week, Christine," Chloe responds. "It was exactly what I needed to hear to start my path to self-recovery, and even though i'm not there yet, i'm on the right path."

"I agree," Chris says.

"Back to my lack of making friends issue...there are things about Blackwell that made it a cesspool. Most of the students had their different vices, whether it'd be drugs, alcohol, sex, partying...you name it. Then there's this Vortex Club bullshit that I only heard from a few students. It used to be a club about revolution, but now it's what you expected it to be though - a bunch of preppy rich kids doing drugs, only accepting members who are friends with popular people. And since I wasn't very friendly with any popular student at that school, i'm not invited to those parties. However, Rachel is popular so maybe I'll get access...but I don't think I want to go. Part of staying sober is staying away from shit like that."

"Definitely," Chris agrees. "You never joined any other clubs or anything like that?"

"Nope," Chloe shakes her head. "I was on my own during my time at Blackwell. Very few wanted to associate with the brooding drug user. However, as I said before, everyone has their vices. The people who wanted to get to know me, aren't even talking to me."

"Why do you say that?"

Chloe shrugs. "There's this one girl, Steph. I used to think, still think actually, she was this badass lesbian nerd who enjoys tabletop games and classic movies, and at one point I wanted to become her friend, but then I did something stupid. She's a really smart girl though, so maybe she shouldn't like me much anyway. I haven't seen her in a while though. I'm not gonna say what the stupid thing is though."

"That's fine," Chris shrugs.

"Then there was this really awkward girl named Samantha. She's a freshman, who I totally believe has a crush on Nathan, the heir of the Prescotts of course. She kind of idolized me, but I never wanted that. I kinda didn't stick up for her crush when another kid, Drew North, threw his art portfolio towards the school fountain. The issue I had with that was that it wasn't my business, and i'm not gonna stand up for someone I despise...plus Drew's dad lost his job because of Nathan's dad and that was hella fucked up so I was kinda on Drew's side. She was hella pissed at me, but I didn't really care." Chloe almost realizes that it sounds insensitive, but she never liked Samantha, not as much as she like Steph (or at all), so it doesn't matter.

"Buuut, speaking of Drew, I got him out of Arcadia Bay recently," Chloe says triumphantly. "He gets to say good riddance to this place, and I don't, but he deserves it. He got into some fucked up shit since his dad lost his job, and now has a broken knee, which voids his athletic scholarship. It was tough on him, and it was kinda on me for reasons I'm not gonna get into yet, but he has other relatives he's staying with, along with his dad and his little brother. I never connected with him before that, but I think we might keep up some type of friendship while he's in Canada. He's a good guy. He adores his little brother...he would do anything for him...kinda makes me wish I had a little sibling to do that."

"Sometimes, I like to think what would happen if Max was here. We could've been a couple awesome gals attending Blackwell, and hating it in the process. We would've been friends with Rachel, Steph, Drew, Mikey, and maybe a few others. Max was the more friendly one - she could even fight to have a friendship with Victoria Chase if she wanted to...and she's a real bitch. I still wouldn't have opened myself up to have friends like that, but I'd invite them into my life. Mom wouldn't have to worry about me brooding in my room, self harming and self medicating, while the music is loud and my room hasn't been cleaned in months. Life would be different, but it would've been a little better. If my dad still dies in this alternate reality, so be it. Having my best friend would make the experience a lot better. I would've accepted my dad's untimely death a lot quicker, and maybe, just maybe, I would deal with David better."

* * *

Chloe spends the entire night at Rachel's home, ignoring Rachel's parents' cries of protest when they saw her walk in. Neither Chloe nor Rachel gave a shit about what James or Rose thought and proceeded to go to Rachel's room, where they start piecing together the information about Rachel's biological mother almost all night until Rachel falls asleep. Chloe decides to sleep as well, hoping to continue in the morning.

They get some information from James himself, even if it's vague as hell. He only said she's from California, they met when he was in high school and that was it. James didn't want Rachel finding information on her, but they are already on the case. Chloe recently had to force herself to manipulate Frank to get some more information on the woman. Her name is Sera Gearhardt and apparently she's causing problems with a lot of people in Arcadia Bay. Whatever that meant, Chloe and Rachel are determined to know more information about Sera.

Rachel does a google search, finding next to nothing except for an unused Facebook account. Rachel couldn't even click on the profile picture because it's privatized. She continues to do searches, background checks, anything. However, one background check ran all night and Chloe finds herself being the little spoon to Rachel's big spoon. It's so intimate that Chloe doesn't want to move, but she has to find information about Sera...for Rachel of course.

Chloe shifts, causing Rachel to moan shortly, but Chloe ignores that and continues to get up. The computer slept the entire night but it doesn't cause any changes to the computer. However, Chloe finds out that there's a password. She clicks on the hint, but draws a close. "Important day" it says, but does Chloe know of any important days in Rachel's life?

Is it her birthday? Is Rachel that self absorbed?

"It's May 28th, the day of our first date." Chloe turns around to see a groggy Rachel standing behind her. "It's kinda lame, but it used to be my birthday. It"s 05282010."

Chloe types that in seconds, and gets in. "I'm in."

"My personal hacker," Rachel says sarcastically, and kisses Chloe's bed hair. "What did we find?"

Chloe looks at the complete background check, finding a few things, like address, phone number, birthday, and the like, but then there's a criminal record, family records….things that may shock the both of them. "What do you wanna find out first?"

"Family history," Rachel says back. "I gotta find out if i'm listed there as a potential daughter, if they have that on record."

Chloe reads it from top to bottom, finding Rachel's name listed as her daughter and James listed as an ex-husband. "So they were married."

"So why did they break up?" Rachel inquires. Chloe shrugs. She turns her head to see Rachel heading for the door. She gets up and grabs Rachel's wrist in time. "Chloe, let go."

"And have you possibly murder your father because he didn't tell you he was married to some woman he had a supposed affair with? I say we find out some more information. Besides, this is definitely not about him. This is about your roots. Let's find out more about her, and we'll worry about that later."

Rachel groans. "I just...I've been lied to this entire time and he still manages to withhold information. I'm so tired of his vagueness, and his fucking lying already."

"Me too." Chloe takes Rachel back to her desk, and Chloe sits back down. "Hey, she's a Valentine's Day baby!"

Rachel rolls her eyes. "I don't care. We should be looking for answers, not irrelevant info."

Chloe sighs. "Yeah but what else do you want to know? She's listed as your mother, despite having no custody of you, and she was married to your dad. Now, we ask her the questions. We gotta find her, or make her come to us."

* * *

Rachel couldn't bring herself to read the rest of the report but Chloe does. She gets Rachel to successfully eat something after reading the full report for anything else. Rachel also makes a few stops to the bathroom to come back with messed up eyeliner and red rimmed eyes, a clear indication that she's been crying in the bathroom.

Since Overlook Park is mostly burned down, there's no other way to spot Sera Gearhardt, and it makes the situation harder than it should be. Chloe should've honestly feel bad about the park being destroyed, but she has had other issues to worry about. Now that there isn't anything else...she feels terrible that an entire ecosystem is destroyed because of Rachel's affinity with fire and apparently wind. Rachel could've burned the picture and that was it...or rip it up and throw it in the trash. Either way, it probably would've been better than knocking down a burning trash can and the flames reaching a tree.

Sighing, Chloe gets up, but then stops after watching a blond haired woman with a white dress sitting at a booth two tables down. "Rachel...she's here…"

Rachel snaps her head towards where Chloe is looking, and that is indeed Rachel's mom. "Fuck! I don't think i'm ready for this."

"I don't think she's ready for us," Chloe replies, upon seeing her with Damon Merrick, another drug dealer that she learned the name of. He was Drew's supplier, and apparently he's buddies with Frank. Chloe doesn't like to think about that. "Should we wait—Rachel!" Rachel's already on the move towards the booth, and Chloe couldn't pull her away from that, this time. "Fuck, why is she so impulsive?" She asks herself, and follows Rachel.

"We need to talk," Rachel announces.

"Rachel, I don't think saying that is a good idea—"

Damon makes his introduction as threatening as possible. "Hey, both of you are interrupting something here."

"It's ok," Sera speaks up, in an actually nicer voice than Chloe expected. "This is Rachel, my daughter."

Chloe didn't want her mother knowing of some meetup inside the restaurant so all three of them agreed to go to the lighthouse, since of course, the park is burned down. It's really awkward going over there and most of the time, Chloe is trying to diffuse the tension, but it doesn't work. At one point, Sera asks why she's here.

"She's my girlfriend," Rachel replies, hoping that her biological mother could accept her if her father and stepmother can't. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, of course not."

"Good," Rachel grimaces. "At least someone doesn't."

"You mean, James isn't ok with you with another woman?"

"James isn't ok with me dating Chloe," Rachel clarifies. "It's Rose, the woman I thought was my mother who isn't ok with me dating women."

It's silent again when they try to find a spot. Silence takes over again when they agree on a spot. Chloe gets tired of the silence and sighs. "I know this little reunion is hella awkward and all, but the silence is even worse."

"Why did you leave me with my dad?" Rachel inquires, once Chloe finishes her sentence. "Why couldn't you see me for almost fifteen years? What happened?"

"I'm guessing James didn't tell you the story."

"My dad told me nothing," Rachel says. "I don't know anything, other than you losing custody of me."

Sera puts a hand over her face, sighing deeply. "Ok, but it's appropriate that I start with how we met. I met your dad in high school. He was pretty nice to me, which is why I was so drawn to him. He always used to say that I could've had anyone in school, but I chose him. We were inseparable in high school. We went on dates, watched the stars together...we also went to dance clubs almost every night, just dancing and being free. We got married almost right when he started law school. As much as things were wonderful in our relationship and in our marriage, I never felt that spark. I felt constricted sometimes, and I wanted an escape, so right after you were born, I started...I started abusing drugs. It got so out of control and often I would bring terrible people around you or I would leave you by yourself for hours to get some fix. Your father did what I would do if the tables were turned. He left me and demanded sole custody of you. I couldn't really see you unsupervised until your fifteenth birthday, which of course, hurt me more than ever."

Rachel stares at Sera with a mix of sympathy and disappointment. "You chose drugs over me?"

"I...I guess I did," Sera replies. "It sounds bad, and I have no one to blame but myself...but after he took you away from me, I felt terrible and I knew that I had to change my ways so that he can agree on some visitation rights. He never did. He would much rather send checks to keep me away from you, but I voided all of them. I went back and forth with sobriety. I was addicted to heroin, which is a terrible opioid and the withdrawal symptoms is like feeling death and life at the same time. However last year, I managed to live above it, especially after getting arrested. I started sending letters, hoping he would read them and grant me chance to see you, but he never replied, so I threatened him with a warrant to see you after your fifteenth birthday."

Chloe finds it hard to sympathize with Sera, but also found it easy to hate James even more. This woman still chose drugs over her daughter, no matter what. However, she keeps her mouth shut. This isn't much of her business.

Sera continues, knowing that she has to explain the Overlook moment because even though she never really saw Rachel, she knew someone of importance watched her kiss James that day. "When we met at the Overlook, it was my last hope. I went years...over a decade without seeing you, but he said no. He kept telling me to stay away." Sera blinks back tears. "Recently, I had to stop a drug dealer from throwing my sobriety away. I paid some man named Damon Merrick to keep the drug away from me, because he was gonna give me a heroin overdose and kill me. I didn't know who this man was but then I did some investigating back at Los Angeles, and the reason why I came back here was because...I was gonna confront James again. But then I saw you. I saw you, and I knew that even though James is cold and calculating, he still loves you. I would've neglected you even more. I would hate to bring you to something so damaging to your health…"

Rachel shakes her head. "My dad is not only a liar, he's also willing to kill you too?"

"Yeah." Rachel casts her eyes down. "I never wanted to make you find out, but then, I realized that as much as your father loves you, you probably wanted the truth. He...he wants to protect you, and that means keeping you away from me, and as much as I wanna see you, he has given you a life that I merely couldn't. You have two parents who love you, and a girlfriend who also loves you." Sera gives Chloe a piercing stare. "You do love my daughter, right?"

Chloe nods quickly.

"But...my dad doesn't want me seeing you, and my mother isn't doing anything either," Rachel explains. "I did a fucking background check to find out who you are. I wanted to know who you are, Sera...mom…"

"And i'm so glad you went through all of that to meet me," Sera smiles. Chloe can seriously see the resemblance between both women...it's so uncanny. "But...I can't provide you with anything other than my undying love. You've grown up so much that i'm not sure where to start. Plus, you have a life in Arcadia Bay. I'm not gonna stay here for long."

Rachel starts to cry. "I need a mother, Sera. I need you to be my mother. I don't care if all you provide is your love for me. I need you."

"You said that your dad doesn't want me seeing you and I don't wanna risk that."

"He doesn't even have to know!" Rachel cries. "You can get a place here or you can go back to California and we can keep a long distance relationship or something. I'll send you my post office box at Blackwell if I have to, but please...I need you…"

Chloe and Sera look at each other then back at Rachel, wondering if Chloe should tell her to hug her daughter or if she should do it no questions asked. But when Chloe opens her mouth, Sera already hugs Rachel, which makes her cry even more in anguished relief. "I can try, but please, don't tell James a thing. Don't tell anyone. That also applies to you, Chloe."

"I'll stay quiet," Chloe says.


	13. Week 12

"This is more like it," Chloe says to herself, when she enters the office with her mother. Chris wants to try another family session, and now that David is out of the picture, they might be able to work with something. Chloe preferred that, even though she may feel a little perturbed by her mom in her business. "Let's talk bidness."

"I want to continue what I wanted to do weeks ago, and that is assess the issues that is going on inside the house in different points of view," Chris explains once both Chloe and her mother sit down on the chairs provided. "Chloe has mentioned in a previous session that she felt uncomfortable in her home because of David moving in and—"

"She doesn't have to worry about that no more," Joyce responds to that.

"And as much as that is a good thing, I want both of you to understand that this is beyond David," Chris explains. "Chloe has mentioned her fears of abandonment, her depression, her anger, and her self harm for the past twelve weeks, and it has a lot to do with her past. She is still grieving the death of her father, and her best friend moving away around the same time. I want both of you to address the issues you two have with each other and we will eventually move forward with repairing the family dynamic, so that Chloe can heal. Recovery is within self, but it also takes external factors like family and friends."

"Alright, I go first," Chloe sighs. She stares at her mother, and as much as their relationship has been improving, there are still issues that needed to be addressed. "I know that I've been a pain in the ass for the past two years, and that's definitely on me. I don't appreciate you enough and often took out some of my anger on you. Hell, at one time I might have blamed you for my dad's death...but I do love you, mom. I always will. I just...I was so mad at you for moving on so fast. I didn't want another man in your life to think that he's replacing dad, and I think David may have tried to do that. No matter how many times you can argue that he cared, he really didn't. I never felt comfortable with him. The first time I cut myself was the first time he hit me, and when you found out of my self harm, I tried so hard to find the strength to never do it again. But he never stopped hitting me. He did it again, and again, and again very recently, and I had to borrow Rachel's makeup to cover for it because I didn't want you to think I got into another bar fight. I...I hated being at that house whenever he was there...and when he moved right in, it was so much worse."

Joyce sighs shakily. "I always thought that David moving in was the right choice, only to find out he endangered you, in your own home...and I'm so sorry for enabling that. I just...I needed something to get my old daughter back. I thought his experiences would wake you up, but I never wanted you to feel uncomfortable with him, ever. That wasn't my intention. Ever since your father died, you've changed drastically. You started skipping school, disappearing off to places and not telling me where you are, you had boys over, you were doing drugs and harming yourself...I was so scared that I was eventually gonna lose you forever...the same way I lost my husband."

Chloe reaches over and wipes her mother's face with a tissue. "And sometimes I wonder if I should've saw it sooner. Before deciding that you should go see a psychologist, he suggested military school. Now I'm looking at it as a terrible idea because it wouldn't have helped your depression, and it surely wouldn't have made you a better person, especially after hearing that David hurt you and actually believing it...but now he isn't here to do anything to you anymore. I want you to be more comfortable with me. I need you more than ever, Chloe. I have no one else anymore. I lost my husband, and my last boyfriend almost drove you away from me. You're all I got."

"I'm not gonna leave you...not now," Chloe promises. It goes against her wishes to get out of Arcadia Bay with Rachel, but that can always wait until Chloe is at least eighteen. For now, she'll focus on improving her relationship with her mom, and look into that GED program at the other high school. She might as well, since these unfortunate days, people without high school diplomas don't get very far. "You have my word."

* * *

After the therapy session, Chloe felt way too drained and decides to take a nap once she gets to her room. When she wakes up, the sun is almost gone and her phone is currently vibrating every now and then. Chloe rubs her eyes from the sleep and checks her phone, to see that it's almost nine, and Rachel's been messaging her since at least five.

Rachel: Chloeeeeee i'm so fuked up rn

Rachel: jfc answr ur phone im getting worriedd

Rachel: im literally in the front of ur house...i think joyce saw me

Chloe raises an eyebrow, and then hears the sound of glass breaking. She immediately gets up and heads downstairs, watching as her mother tries to clean up a broken glass and Rachel trying so hard to stand still but can't. "Rachel? What are you doing?"

"In the neighborhood," she hiccups. "Youuuuu didn't pick up your phone missy."

Chloe sighs deeply. Rachel's still really shaken after her meeting with Sera last week, so she definitely alludes her drinking to that. She should probably take Rachel upstairs so that Rachel doesn't end up smashing more shit in her house. But then, Rachel might end up messing up her shit.

It's a risk she's willing to take. "I'm gonna take her upstairs," Chloe tells her mom.

"That's probably the best idea. I'll get her water later."

Chloe grabs Rachel's hand and pulls her upstairs, but Rachel stops in the middle of the stairs. " _This_ was our little makeout point!"

"Rachel, let's go," Chloe commands. She hopes her mother didn't hear that. "Let's get you to bed."

"Trynna seduce me, Chloe Price? I know you wanted to—" Chloe puts a hand over Rachel's mouth, and decides to just carry her upstairs and to her room. She places Rachel on her bed, ignoring her giggling. "Chloe! I didn't think we get that far that fast!"

"What's going on with you, Rach?" Chloe inquires. "Talk to me."

" _Now_ you want me to talk to you? You ignored me all day and _now_ you want me to talk?" Rachel snorts. "I'm not in the mood to talk. I'm in the mood to not think about my shitty life at Arcadia Hell. Maybe you biting me might help in that direction, I don't fucking know."

"Not talking about it isn't exactly the best thing," Chloe frowns.

Rachel scoffs. "A couple of therapy sessions later and you think you're the expert? You know what? _Whatthefuckever!_ If you're just gonna psychoanalyze me I'm just gonna leave! I was having fun without you anyway!"

Chloe ignores her initial hurt and pulls Rachel back on the bed. "Ok, ok, Rachel. I'm sorry. I just...you worried me just now. It's been a really emotional day here, and it drained me out, and now you're here, drunk out of your ass and I don't know why."

"I hate...I _hate_ being reminded that my life is one big fuck up," Rachel explains. "I _hate_ that my dad tried so hard to keep her away from me. I _hate_ that Sera picked drugs over me. I _hate_ Arcadia Bay. I _hate_ Blackwell, and I fucking _hate_ my dad, and my mom for doing _nothing_. I just wanna get the fuck outta here...outta this town, away from my broken family and those demons at Blackhell. I don't even give a fuck about Los Angeles. We can go to Portland and it will be better than this shithole."

Chloe listens to Rachel, and in the back of her mind, she knows she will have to disappoint Rachel by saying she wants to stay here for a couple more years, until she gets on her feet at least. Chloe wants to get her diploma, a driver's license, a functioning car, and a lot more money in her savings account to start a new life with Rachel, wherever her truck takes them. However, this is just drunk Rachel talking, and even though alcohol is a natural truth serum, Chloe knows Rachel doesn't want to leave just yet. She has to address that when Rachel is sober enough to think clearly.

"Seriously, Chloe. Let's go. What's stopping us?"

Shit, Chloe thinks. "Let's go in the morning," she lies. "I don't want to go when you're piss drunk."

"I'll be fine, Price. Let's take your truck and let's go," Rachel implores. "The more I stay here, the more I feel trapped."

Chloe sighs, fighting the urge to tell her the truth. She might just leave again and Chloe doesn't want that. She wants Rachel to sleep the alcohol off and have a clear head in the morning, and hopefully convince Rachel to stay a bit longer...for her. "I swear we'll leave in the morning. Just be patient with me."

Rachel almost answers. She almost answers. But then she suddenly gets up and runs out of Chloe's room. Chloe is confused until she hears gagging. "Of course," Chloe mutters. She goes to the bathroom to see Rachel throwing up in the toilet. Chloe is more than thrilled that Rachel was willing to hold her bile in long enough to reach the toilet. As she reaches to move Rachel's hair out the way, she sees a bit of vomit already in Rachel's hair.

A little disgusted, Chloe decides to just rub Rachel's back until she finishes. Chloe flushes the toilet, and Rachel just sits there, breathing shallowly. "Come on, let's get off the floor. You should also wash your hair. There's a bit of vomit on it."

"What's the fucking point," Rachel mumbles. "I'm a fucking failure."

"If one of us has to be the failure in this relationship, it's gonna be me," Chloe jokes. She cringes right after - god, Christine was right. She really needs to stop making jokes during shitty situations. "Besides that shitty joke, you're not a failure, Rachel. You're just...a little fucked up. But, we're all fucked up. Everyone in this town, and probably this world, is fucked up."

"You have a parent who loves you though," Rachel sniffles. "My dad lied through his teeth, every damn day of my life, to cover up the fact that he hired some drug dealer to kill Sera...and my mother lets it all happen without doing a damn thing about it. No one loves me. People at school either respect me or idolize me...or at least hate me enough to put up a front."

"That's not true," Chloe says back. "Your mom isn't the greatest mom and your dad is _fucked_ up, but they love you. Sera loves you as well. She made horrible choices in the past but I can see that she's willing to try again. My mom looks at you as her other daughter already, even though she hasn't told you or me. I can see how much she loves you as if you were her own...and, fuck, Rachel. _I_ love you. You're the only other person other than my psychologist who gets me. You didn't give a fuck about your reputation enough to strike a friendship with me at first, and you're there to pull me out when I'm so far up my own head. If you didn't save me from those punks at the mill, I'd be dead, so I owe you my life...and I love you, Rachel Amber."

Rachel gets up from the floor and stares at Chloe. She would hug Chloe but she finally sees the vomit on her hair. "I love you too, Chloe Price. I would kiss you right now, but I need to wash myself...and I feel like throwing up again," Rachel admits. "Care to give me some time to collect myself?"

"Sure," Chloe replies. She leaves the bathroom, and as soon as she closes the door, Rachel opens it once again. "You have an extra toothbrush?"

"Yeah," Chloe says. "It's in the cabinets."

Rachel opens the cabinet and finds the toothbrush still in its packaging. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

* * *

Chloe wakes up early that morning, feeling weirdly refreshed. She hasn't had a dad dream for a little while, but she still felt like she hasn't had a good sleep in months. Sleeping next to Rachel however, feeling warm under her arms that trap her, makes her sleep soundly. Chloe knows that Rachel will wake up soon and will be really hungover, so she has to get some painkillers and water for her, as well as make a killer breakfast for her girlfriend, if her mother hasn't done so yet. It's also the least she can do for Rachel.

Chloe easily gets away from Rachel's clutches, and starts moving. She gets a small cup from her cabinet and fills it with water, then goes inside the bathroom to grab the strongest painkillers she owns. She spills out a capsule and goes back inside her room. Rachel still hasn't woken up yet so Chloe sets the water and pill on her bedside table, and heads downstairs to make breakfast. It's not like her mother, but she knows some basic shit, like eggs, bacon, and pancakes. It takes Chloe almost an hour to make everything, but it's all in effort. When Chloe flips her last pancake, she hears her mother's heels making noise, descending down the stairs. "Chloe?"

"In the kitchen, mom." Chloe sets a plate of food on the island and then turns off the gas oven. Her mother raises an eyebrow, wondering what the hell happened. " _What?_ "

"You're cooking breakfast. It's a helluva sight," her mother admits.

"Yeah yeah. I left you some on the island." Chloe grabs the breakfast tray and starts to go upstairs. "Enjoy, mom!"

"Thanks, Chloe…" She almost laughs at her mother's confusion but keeps going upstairs. When she opens the door, she sees Rachel sitting up, grabbing the pill and swallowing it with the cup of water.

"Breakfast for a queen like you," Chloe announces. "Eat up. The best way to cure a killer hangover is killer greasy food, so you have an all-star breakfast." She doesn't say anymore because she knows how terrible hangovers are. She has had them herself.

Rachel keeps quiet, but starts eating. Chloe sits on her bed in silence until Rachel is half finished. "Chloe…"

"If you still wanna leave, it's fine...it's just that...I can't leave right now," Chloe sighs. "Yesterday at my session, I realized that my mom really needs me, and I need her right now. I can't leave her yet. She doesn't have anyone anymore...her ex-boyfriend was abusive and her last husband is dead. I'm the only person she has. Trust me...I want nothing more than to leave this hellish town, but...I want to wait."

"Chloe...I get it. I knew you were lying to me yesterday about leaving in the morning. I just...I was so mad at my parents...they have ruined my life in the past month and they can't take that back. I want to leave so badly, but I can't. I want you with me when we leave, and you can't leave yet."

"So you're staying?"

"I gotta grin and bear it for now," Rachel replies. "I can finish school, you can find a job or something...it's not the best but we have to make the best out of this situation until we can get on our feet. And...I know you need your mom and she needs you too...but fuck, I don't think I can stay with my parents for that long until school starts again."

"You don't have to. I'll be there when you don't wanna be alone, and my door's always open. You don't have to face them alone anymore. You got me. I love you."

"I love you too."


	14. Week 13

"My mom and I decided I should go in for a psych evaluation this week, and i'm kinda scared," Chloe says as soon as she enters the room. "I know there's something wrong, but I don't think i'm ready to face the facts."

"It's not as bad as you think it is," Chris assures her. "Psychiatric evaluations exist so that you can get a better understanding of your mental health, and that is a huge decision to make so I am definitely proud of you for making that decision."

"Thanks," Chloe smiles. "But, would they request that I see a psychiatrist if there is something wrong?"

"Not if you don't want to," Chris replies. "Seeing a psychiatrist regularly is a suggestion, but there are also psychologists like me who have different ways to manage your mental illness. We find out the root of the problem and try ways to fix it, but, as you've been experiencing for thirteen weeks, you have to work on yourself as well. Recovery is within self and also the external factors around you."

"Will I have to take drugs for this?"

"That would require a psychiatrist, so no you won't be taking drugs," Chris answers.

"Good, because some drugs are probably addictive." Chloe remembers the few times she took drugs just so she won't feel whatever the fuck she was feeling and while they're great, they're also addictive. If Chloe is going to stay clean, she is going to find other ways to seek recovery. That also means not smoking Arcadia Bay's shittiest weed from her old friend Justin either, but she already quit thanks to the painful memory it comes with. "I know what you're gonna ask me and I'm already expecting it. I have used pills in the past and even though it takes the pain away, it's a bitch to withdraw from. My most favorite drug though? Weed, definitely. It took the edge off and made me more bearable, at least that's what some of my old stoner friends would say. Alcohol was terrible because you'd drink and feel all these feelings all at once, especially when you took which type of alcohol into consideration, but you will always wake up with a hangover no matter what. Then you'd drink again as if that hangover didn't teach you a lesson enough. Getting a box of cigarettes is too easy and smoking it is now easier than I remember, now that my throat and lungs are probably fucked up, but my habit is dwindling...I used to enjoy smoking outside, hoping to feel calm after a fight with David but I smoked once last week and I didn't even finish it."

"That seems like a step in the right direction," Chris admits. "At least you're taking steps to become sober, even if it's not as much as a big deal."

"Yeah...then there was my drug debt. I got my weed from a dealer every month for a year, but I never really paid in full. It was bad because that meant I had to pay them soon or risk my life. Recently...like over a month ago, I had to pay off that debt by stealing some money from someone who owed another drug dealer and it really hit me. It was at that moment when I realized that...I couldn't do it anymore. I already made that decision before that but the guilt was terrible. This was someone who needed the money to escape from this very place and I took it from them."

"Was this the guy you mentioned before? Drew?"

"It sure was," Chloe confirms. "And the funny thing is...Rachel and me...we wanted to leave this place so bad. The minute we met each other, we were ready to leave this place the minute we see fit. We didn't want to deal with the issues that this place has brought on us. But, that was before my mom decided to repair her relationship with me. That was before she saw David for what he really is. It was before Rachel found out the truth of her origins. And, it was before I stole some kid's money. As I stay here and seek the help I so desperately needed, I realized that I shouldn't leave this place yet. My mom needs me, and I need her. I need to get more mature and level headed before I decide to leave this hell of a town. If I still have the idea to leave when i'm older, and i'm sure I will, that's when I'll decide to leave. But god, I still feel terrible for stealing someone's money for a debt I needed to pay."

Chloe hopes she made the right decision staying in Arcadia Bay, because as much as she wants to stay, there are things she needs to do before leaving. It stays silent for a minute, which doesn't unnerve Chloe. She just admitted to something morally ambiguous and for the first time, she believes that Christine may not have the answer to this.

She thinks wrong. "As much as I am a little disappointed about the drug thing, there are things that I've heard that are a lot worse. You are a good kid, Chloe, and I believe that, and you proved that when you did try to solve that problem. I do see your growth though. You are different from the person who walked in here for the first time."

"Yeah...I've been feeling guilty for weeks and I thought you would tell me I made a stupid choice."

"No, you did make a stupid choice," Chris tells her. "I can see why you did it, but it's a stupid choice. Choices have consequences, Chloe. Whether they're good or bad. And…getting away from drug dealers isn't an easy task."

"I probably had it easy," Chloe guesses.

"Yeah, you sure did."

* * *

"We'll have your results in a few days," the psychiatrist tells Chloe, in a dull voice that makes her a little uncomfortable. This is the exact type of person Chloe wanted to avoid when she started seeing Christine - someone who is uninterested in helping people and thinks of this as regular routine because either way, they're getting a check. The evaluation was weird because the psychiatrist asks Chloe a series of questions and Chloe isn't sure if she gave the best answers to them. She already had the physical this morning and the drug test the previous day, and besides being in a healthy weight, her drug tests marked positive for marijuana and it surprises Chloe how long the drug can stay in the system. Then again, she should've known that, because she used to give a shit about her education once in her life.

Once Chloe leaves the office, she goes straight home on her truck, and it starts to run differently. She should check the hood to see what's causing the problem, but she's drained from that evaluation and there's nothing else she wants to do except sleep.

Once Chloe reaches her room, she fixes some stuff that are in slight disarray and drops on the bed, hoping that her nap doesn't take the entire day like the last time.

When she wakes up, she notices it's only been 45 minutes since she got into bed. Sighing, Chloe gets up, feeling less drained and a little more energetic. As soon as she stretches to get some of the cricks out of her body, her phone rings. She hopes it's Rachel but when she picks it up, it's a number she thought she deleted weeks ago.

Steph: can we talk?

Chloe bites back a humorless laugh. What does she has to say? Chloe already got the impression that Steph wanted nothing to do with her and Chloe is accepting that. Chloe has no interest in being friends with any more Blackwell students, considering that most of them are psychopaths in training, so what does she want?

Chloe: abt what?

Steph: about things...meet me the blackwell campus

Chloe rolls her eyes and decides why not. She has nothing to lose right now. Aside from waking up from a nap, Chloe has nothing to do. She puts her sneakers back on and heads outside, opting to walk to the campus instead of taking her car. After hearing that noise, she's not taking any more risky chances. It doesn't matter if it's a long walk. Steph can wait patiently for Chloe and the day isn't going anywhere for a few more hours.

When she gets to the campus, it's almost barren. Only a few students are hanging around, most of them she thankfully never met so they won't say hi or anything. She spots Steph on her cellphone, looking like she's watching something. She sits right on the other edge of the bench, which gets her attention. "Oh, you're here."

"Did you really think I wouldn't come? I just decided to walk instead of taking the bus," Chloe explains. "Now, what is this about? Because as much as I love being out of my house, you made it clear you don't like me, and I don't think you know what that means."

"I _never_ said I didn't like you," Steph defends.

"You stopped talking to me because I took Drew's money," Chloe argues. "I already feel terrible for it. What else do you want me to say?"

There's a short silence. "I'm sorry."

Chloe furrows her eyebrows. "For _what_ , Steph?"

"For making you feel bad about some stupid money," Steph replies. "It doesn't even matter now. Drew and Mikey are already gone. They moved to Canada already. Apparently it was your idea."

"It was my idea, but it was Drew's decision to choose between staying here and being homeless or going to a home far away from this hellhole." Chloe plays with her thumbs a little. "I've grown to like you, and Mikey, and even Drew. I thought all three of you hated me, and I was willing to accept that but then Drew and I had that talk, and...I don't know. I just…"

Steph sighs. "What you did was fucked up, and I still don't understand why you did it, but that's none of my business. I misunderstood you."

Chloe rolls her eyes. " _No_ , you didn't misunderstand me. I stole a guy's money to pay off my own debt. It was selfish, and fucked up for me to do and you have every right to hate me for it."

Steph shakes her head. " _No_ , Chloe. You don't get to make the decision on whether I should hate you or not. I never stopped liking you. I just hated what you did, and you wouldn't even own up to your mistake the first time I confronted you about the money."

"Well, i'm sorry I didn't take responsibility for my mistake," Chloe replies. "I don't want people to look at me as some brave being. I am a human being who makes stupid mistakes like everyone else. I didn't stand up for Nathan because not only do I despise the fucking nub, but it also wasn't my fucking business...as if i'm supposed to argue with Drew over some football decision that he had every right to be mad about, because Nathan thinks he can buy himself into sports teams with zero effort. I cut school and it got me kicked out, I drink alcohol, smoke weed, and go to illegal concerts. I did shit that would have me on house arrest or locked up, but what can I do? No one knows a goddamn thing about me and they have no room to assume shit either and that includes you. Also I didn't respond to you that day because it was none of your business. You knew that, didn't you?"

"I did, which is why I regretted it after I sent that last text," Steph says back. "I truly am sorry though, and I want to start over with you. You and Drew did it, so why not you and me?"

"I don't know," Chloe replies.

Steph laughs. "You're not used to having people giving you second chances, huh?"

"No, i'm not," Chloe admits.

"Consider me your first then," Steph grins. "Now that Mikey's in Canada, I don't have a D&D partner either, and i'm not moving away from Arcadia Bay very soon so I need a friend."

"There are plenty—"

"The only other seemingly gay girl in this school is stuck up as hell and isn't a gamer," Steph replies. "Rachel doesn't seem like the gaming type either."

Chloe almost laughs. "Was the first part about Victoria?"

Steph nods. "What can I say, I have a thing for mean girls."

Chloe chuckles, laughing even harder when she realizes Steph isn't lying. Maybe it could happen if Victoria lets loose and came out the closet, but until then, maybe Steph has to look elsewhere. "Look some more, Steph. You have other choices."

"There's Taylor Christensen," Steph jokes. "But seriously. Back to the task. You may not be at school anymore, but security can't exactly kick you out of campus. Please?"

"Alright, fine." She rolls her eyes once she sees Steph grinning even wider. "You're a dork, Stephanie."

Steph rolls her eyes. "You better be lucky i'm letting you call me that."


	15. Week 14

Chloe is less than surprised hearing back from the psychiatrist, and she bets her therapist won't be surprised either. However what Chloe keeps thinking about is her next steps. Yeah, her depression is nothing more than common but she refuses to take things for it. Chris told her that no matter what she will still make an effort to keep seeing her so that Chloe won't go to another person and start all over again.

Plus, Chloe wouldn't want to.

She walks inside the office, hoping to get this situation sorted out and follow a game plan to make her depression related recovery a good one. It might be a long one, but Chloe believes she has enough time. "We already discussed half of this on the phone, but we are going to do some things differently, right?"

"Definitely," Chris responds. "We will be continuing our sessions, and it's not that different. Now, you are definitely naysay on antidepressants?"

"The psychiatrist recommends fluoxetine, and I read that it has side effects," Chloe replies.

"No drug administered to you will be flawless, Chloe," Chris deadpans.

Chloe grimaces. "Yeah, but...for now i'm a naysay. If behavioral therapy doesn't work out then maybe in the future."

"Like I said before, it is your decision."

"Am I gonna be looking at any ink blots?" Chloe inquires.

Chris couldn't hold back a laugh. "You watch too much television. We don't do ink blots, at least not for behavioral therapy, which is what I've been doing since you walked in here. We will be making more goals in this room and I will offer answers for any questions that may arise."

"Ok, because I was thinking of going back to school," Chloe says back. She doesn't feel like she has any more questions so she wants to start on an actual session. "I'm not thinking of trade or vocational school yet, if it does become an option. I want to finish off my high school years and get a GED since I've been expelled from school and i'm not sure if another school will accept my 1.7 GPA."

"Yes they would, if you show them that you're willing to do the work," Chris says.

"Yeah, but the program has night school and that seems better than going to school in the morning. I remember when I did some research on afternoon and night classes, and they say they're better because no one is truly awake at eight in the morning. At Blackhell, classes start at around 8 and I surely wasn't awake at eight."

"I can definitely agree with that. However, i'm saying that it shouldn't be your only option. GED programs are a lot harder than regular school. They might have smaller classrooms, but they aren't easy."

"School has never been easy but I sure managed it for a while before my dad died," Chloe says. "My only issue is that if the class is boring I may not keep my attention up for long."

"As long as you think you can handle it, that's fine, and it's also a step in the right direction. Have you ever thought about what you wanna do?" Chloe shakes her head. "Ok, let's talk about what you can do and continue from there."

Chloe thinks about her very few talents easily. "I can draw, I can read a periodic table quite well, and I can also fix up a car...depending on what i'm doing. Exterior and glamour things are pretty easy but under the hood is an issue. I can become a mechanic, even if that means I gotta become the ultimate lesbian."

"It doesn't matter if you're living up to stereotypes. If it makes you happy, it makes you happy. With drawing, you can become an artist."

"A tattoo artist!" Chloe suggests. "That seems hella rad, to be honest. I can definitely open up my own shop and do some sick tattoos. There are other suggestions I can do with drawing, but I don't wanna become an educator, especially after the education system failed me, and artists in the 2010s won't last as long as the Italian Renaissance painters."

"Who says you won't? Artists like them came from squalor situations and made it big. You are no different. Then again, the tattoo artist business fits you like a glove."

"You see it, right?" Chloe laughs.

"But with those professions, comes hard work, and I know you can do it Chloe. You're already on the right path signing up for the GED program. Take it easy when you're doing so, and don't let all the hard work manage you. Manage your time wisely while you're there. This is a second chance, but it doesn't come with endless chances."

* * *

Chloe hasn't really seen Rachel much for the past few weeks. Chloe could only believe it's because she's been busy with her psychiatric evaluations and her tests, and also because she started studying for her driver's exam throughout the week, but it's been a really long time.

She definitely understands that they won't spend every waking moment with each other. They can message each other or call each other to check up on each other but that's it. Nevertheless, Chloe is not confused to find Rachel in her room after her therapy session, which was longer thanks to a new course of action that requires more time and more attention.

"Surprise!" Rachel grins.

"My birthday's in March," Chloe replies. Rachel rolls her eyes and immediately throws her arms around Chloe's shoulders. "You miss me that much?"

"I did," Rachel admits. "We only saw each other on that drastic day and that was it. I'm starting to think you're getting too busy for me."

"With therapy and also studying for a driver exam, yeah I am getting busy. I'm not even in school anymore and yet, I find myself busy within the week." Chloe removes Rachel's hands from her shoulders, then takes her to her slightly messy bed. "I already told you about my evaluation, and...they say I have depression and some posttraumatic stress, which isn't a surprise to me because I always felt that I wasn't always...well, especially with my self-harming past and the tragedies I've experienced. I'm still gonna see my therapist every Monday but i'm not gonna be doing any drugs they recommend yet, especially when i'm trying to wean off them."

Rachel rubs Chloe's back and listens intently, never breaking eye contact. "There's also the possibility of extending my sessions a half hour longer. I only get an hour, but now that i'm trying to get better, and not just around me but also within me, there might be some changes. And I know that might cut our time together but…"

"It's ok," Rachel assures, reaching for Chloe's hand. "I know you're working on yourself, and that's all that matters right now. You're taking the steps to better manage your mental health, and that is so admirable, and I will definitely be here no matter what. I'm here for you."

Chloe gives Rachel a lopsided smile. "Thanks."

"But now that you're here...I have an experiment." Rachel let's go of Chloe's hand and rolls over to the side of the bed to retrieve a paper bag.

"What are we doing?"

"Remember when you mentioned you wanted to color your hair?" Rachel asks.

"Sure, I said if I had to pick a color it would be blue," Chloe responds.

"Well, today's your lucky day Miss Price," Rachel smirks, pulling out a bottle of blue dye. "I brought one bottle to do a strand test but if it works out—"

"We're doing the entire bottle," Chloe blurts out.

"Chloe! I'm not doing that!" Rachel frowns, pulling out the jar of vegan hair dye. "I don't know this brand!"

"This is vegan, Rach," Chloe points out in a deadpan voice. "You picked a vegan brand. Now come on. Put that blue stuff in my hair and make me a big beautiful bluenette already."

Rachel snorts. "Ok, but you have to agree on getting a tattoo with me."

"Listen, I already got tattoo ideas in my journal, now come on!" Chloe grabs Rachel's wrists and drags her all the way to the bathroom. Rachel has no choice but to comply, but she does grab an old t-shirt on the way. Once they get to the bathroom, Chloe sits on the toilet and tells her to grab the towel.

"Something tells me the towel has some value to it," Rachel says after grabbing it.

"My dad got it for me, and I never wanted it too dirty the minute I received it," Chloe says back. "I would always use it to dry myself off in the shower, but that's it….now that you mentioned it…no, fuck it. I'm not actually gonna get dye on it, right?"

"Chlo."

"Rach." Chloe rolls her eyes. "Ok, ok. There's towels inside the bottom cabinet. There's a black one. We can use that."

Once Chloe finishes washing the dye off her hair, she towel dries her hair, and looks at herself in the mirror. Her hair is now a vibrant blue, one of her favorite colors, even if her hair isn't dry and there's still work needed to be done. She wraps a clean towel over her hair and goes back to her bedroom, where Rachel is patiently waiting with a blow drying brush and a blow dryer in both of her hands. Chloe allows Rachel to work her magic with the very few hair products (like leave in conditioner and hairspray) she owns inside her room, and after blow drying it, she fixes it up in the usual short style Chloe keeps it in.

Once Rachel places the mirror in front of Chloe, she gasps. "Dude, my hair is...hella blue."

"It's the most vibrant blue I could find. I didn't think it would be this vibrant on your hair...makes me kinda jealous."

Chloe laughs, and pulls Rachel on her lap. "Thank you. And we can totally dye your hair...I was thinking red."

"No," Rachel says flatly.

"Black!" Chloe suggests again. Rachel gives her a deadpan look, which makes Chloe laugh. "I think black will be a bold color for you...or maybe gray."

"Hell no! Definitely not gray. You're not giving me any good choices here."

"Ok, we can keep your hair the way it is...or maybe a platinum blond...or brunette…"

"I can be brunette." Rachel starts touching her hair with one hand and holding the mirror with the other hand. "Being blond my whole life has proved nothing. We don't have more fun than anyone else."

"You said that," Chloe agrees. "Been blond my entire life and all I got was death and depression. But now i'm blue, and maybe my life will get better."

"It's already getting better," Rachel says back. "You have a working relationship with your mom, David's out of your life, you have an awesome girlfriend…"

"...and i'm also starting over...in a way," Chloe adds on. "I didn't think I'd actually be where I am now. We would've probably hit the road already if my mom didn't suggest I go to therapy. Mom would've gotten married already and we'll be in LA living the life and shit...sometimes I still think about leaving."

"Same, but I'm willing to wait for you," Rachel replies, staring at Chloe in the eye. "Plus, I can wait for myself either. I can't live with my parents...at all...especially after the shit my dad try to pull with Sera, but I guess that's why I live on campus. It's not an everyday thing, especially during the summer but...it's something."

"You can always stay here when you can't live with them," Chloe suggests. "My mom already loves you, and she knows you practically live here already. She might try to make you stay in a different room but it won't last long."

"Yeah, I guess." Rachel looks at the journal Chloe was talking about earlier. "Now, show me those tattoo ideas. I wanna see them."

Chloe slightly pushes Rachel off her lap and grabs the notebook. Rachel reclaims her seat while Chloe flips through pages full of angry and sad words, red marks for her self harming urges, and a ton of weird doodles from her dreaming until she reached upon a full page of a sleeve she eventually wanted. The opposite page has a butterfly, a dragon, a lion, a doe, and a wading moon. "These are my ideas."

"I love the dragon, and the butterfly. Wow, Chloe, you're talented as hell."

"I try," Chloe smiles modestly. "Also, I was hoping you'd like the dragon. I was gonna give it to you for your eighteenth birthday when we can probably get tattoos without parental consent. It's definitely not to scale. I was gonna have it bigger than this."

"This would be great for a calf tattoo," Rachel says. "Let me guess, this one over here is yours?"

Chloe watches Rachel point over to her sleeve-in-progress. "Definitely. You can't have it. But...I can draw a sleeve for you if you want."

"I'll take the dragon tattoo."

Chloe automatically thinks of a reference. "You'd be the girl with the dragon tattoo and you'll definitely stand out."

"Funny," Rachel laughs.

* * *

When Chloe goes downstairs after her mom calls her down for dinner, she graces herself for whatever reaction her mother's gonna give her. Rachel rolls her eyes and pushes Chloe inside the kitchen, where her mother is already putting a plate of food on the table. "Come on, Chloe. I can eat alone for so many days."

Chloe goes to the dining table, with Rachel right behind her. They sit down at the only other empty chairs. "Oh, I guess Rachel's joining us. I made enough for—" she stops upon seeing Chloe's vibrant blue hair. "Oh my god."

"You like it Mom?"

Joyce couldn't hold back a smile. "Yeah, sure. It strangely...works for you."

Chloe sighs in relief."I thought you would hate it because you always said that people dyeing their hair meant that they were trouble."

"You're already trouble, Chloe. Even before your dad died, you were trouble. I still have that stain from one of your little Chloe and Max wine tasting sessions."

Chloe laughs, and for the first time, she doesn't cringe upon hearing Max's name. "That's what happens when you put the wine within reach, mother."

"So that's what that stain was," Rachel says. "I just thought it was an oil stain that never went away."

"That was the lie she tried to come up with, until I found the empty wine bottle under the sofa."

"And we could've gotten away with it, if it weren't for my meddling mom," Chloe jokes.

The rest of the dinner goes smoothly, every now and then Chloe bringing up old things from the past and instead of getting sensitive, she smiles and laughs. Chloe looks at Rachel every few minutes and not seeing her jealous or resentful really makes the experience even more special to her. Chloe definitely wants more time like this, where she's with her mom and her girlfriend, and whether they're bonding together with Chloe watching or her repairing her relationship with her mom by having small chats, it's more than worth it.

Rachel ends up staying the night, especially after that talk of not wanting to be with her dad anymore. Chloe couldn't even argue with that.

The next day Chloe feels refreshed, surprisingly, and suggests to Rachel they should go to the beach once Chloe tries to fix the engine. It's not a doable job but it manages to run a little better once Chloe drops Rachel off to her house to get some things. Not wanting to stay inside the truck, Chloe follows her inside and just as usual, the house feels chaotic. "You ever feel a type of energy entering your house?"

"Sometimes, why?"

"I thought it was just me," Chloe replies. They don't say another word once they go to Rachel's room. Chloe lays on the bed and looks at the ceiling, while Rachel looks for a bathing suit to wear under her clothes.

"Which one should I go for: fire print or floral print?" Rachel inquires, waving both two pieces in front of Chloe.

"Definitely fire print. I have my awesome blue two piece. We'll be fire and ice."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "Dork."

"But i'm your dork and you love me," Chloe replies, and lies back down to look at the ceiling again.

"Can't argue with that." Rachel quickly gets dressed without leaving the room, and puts on a fresh set of clothes over it. She grabs her sunglasses and beach towel. "Come on, Price."

Chloe gets up and follows Rachel out the room. They silently walk downstairs and are heading for the door when they hear a throat being cleared. "Where are you going?"

Rachel sighs and faces her father. "I'm going to the beach with my girlfriend, dad."

"I thought I said it was a bad idea dating her, Rachel," he claims. Chloe clenches her fists almost immediately. "I don't want you seeing her."

"And why is that, dad? Is it because she can see beneath you and your bullshit?" Rachel accuses. "What's the point in fighting me about this, dad? I love Chloe. She's my girlfriend, and you can't change that."

"You don't—"

Rachel scoffs. "I don't what? Love her? Or is it, I don't know what i'm talking about? Just cut the crap, dad. Ever since I found out about my real mom, I've seen you for what you really are: a lying, manipulative piece of shit. Please leave me alone from now on. I don't want you judging me on my relationship with Chloe, I don't want you trying to explain why you almost try to kill Sera, and I surely don't want you treating Chloe like shit whenever she shows up. That goes for you and mom."

Rachel grabs Chloe's fist and drags her out of the house. Chloe finally relaxes upon reaching outside, and takes a deep breath. "Rach, that was hella badass. I didn't think you'd stand up to your dad like that."

"Me neither," Rachel replies. Chloe laughs, and kisses Rachel by surprise. "Come on, Price! You promised me the beach."

"I did, huh?" Chloe turns around and walks to the car. Rachel smirks and follows along.

It takes them a few minutes to get to the beach, with Chloe's personalized playlist playing on her phone. It isn't empty, but Chloe isn't going to worry so much about the influx of Arcadian residents at the beach. It is the middle of the summer after all. She places her beach towel on the sunniest part of the beach and Rachel does the same. They already applied sunscreen at Chloe's room so they will need another coat in a few hours so they won't burn.

Chloe instantly remembers a summer when she went to this exact beach with her father and Max, and at the end of it Chloe received a bad sunburn that almost ruined her summer. She couldn't really move much because the pain was too much. Since then, Chloe wears sunscreen all the time during the summer...even though it's been 2 years since she's been to the beach.

They keep their playlist on while sunbathing, watching other people swimming in the water or playing volleyball a few feet away. That is, until the ball bounces to Chloe's side. Chloe picks it up and watches as Samantha Myers frowns deeply upon realizing who picked up the volleyball but still going up to Chloe to retrieve it.

"Hey Samantha Prescott," Chloe teases. "Here's your ball."

"Chloe, be nice," Rachel warns.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood," Chloe replies.

"I just wonder...when will you ever stop being a mean person?" Samantha asks.

Chloe raises an eyebrow, and pulls her sunglasses down a little. "It's a joke, Samantha."

"It wasn't very funny," Samantha points out. "And i'm still referring to when you let that asshole Drew throw Nathan's portfolio at the fountain."

"Oh my god, seriously?" Chloe snaps. "Get over it, Samantha. I'm not the knight in shining armor that everyone sees me as. I'm a human being, with problems of my own, and I'm so tired of people like you thinking that i'm a brave soul. Besides, I'm here to have a nice day, not to argue with you. Now take your fucking volleyball and go away."

"Fuck you, Chloe Price," Samantha growls, and storms off.

"Sorry, Sammie! V-card's been punched!" Chloe yells, with a smirk on her face.

"Chloe!" Rachel frowns. "She's a freshman. Be nice."

"Not this upcoming school year, she isn't," Chloe replies. "Plus, she really expected me to stand up to Drew, as if I didn't agree with him about Nathan being an entitled jerkass. She can go be Nathan's little groupie and stand up to him."

"Yeah, but you don't have to be mean to her," Rachel says back.

"Ok, ok, you're right," Chloe relents, avoiding an argument about some dumbass former freshman. She really doesn't want that to ruin her fun. "I just...I wasn't even being mean. I was joking. It's no secret that she's crushing on the Prescott scab." Rachel raises an eyebrow, giving her a look. "Are you kidding? I'm not gonna apologize."

"Chloe."

Chloe groans. "Fine." Chloe gets up, and approaches Samantha, who is taking a water break from her volleyball game with some friends. "Hey Samantha, can we talk?"

"About what?"

"Come on, Sammie," Chloe implores. "I know you're still mad at me about not sticking up for Nathan, but—"

"People give Nathan shit because of his family. That overgrown bully threw his folder in the damn fountain and you let him do that, and what, did you expect me to not feel mad at you?"

Chloe wants to defend Drew, but she can't bring herself to. Not because they're friends, but because this is beyond Drew. "Ok...you're right. I should've done something...and i'm sorry for that. I'm also really sorry about the tasteless joke. It wasn't funny at all, and I shouldn't have provoked you like that." Samantha softens her glare, but continues to keep her mouth shut. "I'm trying to be a better person now. It's gonna take time but I have confidence in myself."

"I think you're already a better person, Chloe," Samantha says honestly. "You apologized when you didn't have to. It shows character."

Chloe smiles a little. "Thanks, Samantha."

There's a shout, making Samantha groan a little. "I gotta go back to my friends, but this shouldn't be our last chat together, right?" Samantha grins and turns back around to her game.

Chloe heads back to her girlfriend, who gives her a hopeful look. "She accepted my apology."

"Good, now you owe me a swim Price." Chloe rolls her eyes and gets a head start towards the water. She hears Rachel protesting and running right behind her.


	16. Week 15

"I gotta say I'm _loving_ the hair," Chris comments as soon as Chloe sits down for their session. Chloe smiles and touches her hair a little - she hasn't received any bad comments about her hair since Rachel dyed it last week, and she kinda likes the positive attention. "It suits you."

"Thanks," Chloe replies. "Blue is one of those colors I don't hate. I was talking with Rachel if I were to dye my hair with, it would be blue...but not just any blue. This kind of blue of course. She took it seriously and got me some hair dye and we made a mess in the bathroom trying to dye my hair with vegan hair dye. It came out better than I expected." As much as Chloe wants to continue about her hair, she wants to talk about other things. "Enough about my hair though. I had a nice week with Rachel. After dyeing my hair, I showed my mom and she liked it. My mom mentioned Max during dinner and I didn't even cringe or change the subject that night."

"That's a good sign. I think you're finally starting to understand that Max leaving isn't your fault and that life goes on with or without her."

"Yeah, but...if she were to come back i'm not sure if I would be pissed off or thrilled. She was the one friend I had amongst a bunch of school acquaintances." Chloe sighs, and changes the subject. Despite not having any negative coping mechanisms when someone mentions Max Caulfield, it doesn't mean she isn't still affected by the girl leaving and not contacting Chloe for years. "I took Rachel to the beach the next day, but before that, Rachel kinda argued with her dad about how she was feeling about Sera and about her relationship with me, because Daddy Amber doesn't want Rachel dating me. It's not because he's a homophobe. It's because he doesn't like me. It kinda sucks though. My mom adores Rachel, but I can't get along with James for shit, and part of it is because of the lies he has been hiding from his daughter. Is it even important that your partner's parent likes you anyway? I don't think so, especially when he's a scumbag."

"Then we got to the beach and it was nice. I even got a tan without burning under the goddamned sun. I even got to talk with Samantha Myers for a short time. I was shitty at first because I teased her a little about her crush on Nathan. I didn't mean much harm, but she's still mad at me because I didn't defend Nathan when Drew was hassling him. Rachel convinced me to apologize, and I did. She accepted it almost instantly."

"Good," Chris smiles.

"It felt good to get on good terms with someone I thought hated me," Chloe says. "When I thought Drew and Steph hated me, I pretended like I didn't care, but I did. They're both good kids. Steph is a really cool girl, and Drew never rubbed me the wrong way. But when we worked it out, it got better."

"Do you think you and Max would work your issue out like that?"

Chloe should've saw this coming. She isn't uncomfortable with talking about Max, but still. "I don't know. Samantha, Drew, and Steph only took a few months to work out our issues. Max stopped talking to me for years. I do see it in my future, but I don't think it would be instant. She has to understand how much she hurt me first before we can become friends again."

* * *

Rachel has less than a week until Blackwell opens its dormitory for students to stay on campus, so she calls Chloe to help her with packing. Chloe retrieves a suitcase from Rachel's linen closet and sets them on Rachel's bed. Rachel sighs and opens her first drawer, containing her sleepwear and loungewear. "Ok, so my dad taught me this trick on how to fold shirts and save room inside my suitcase so I can make space for shoes, but I heavily doubt i will put any shoes in here so i'm just gonna put my entire wardrobe in here and not give a shit."

"Ok." Chloe watches Rachel fold a couple shirts, and follows suit only to come short. Rachel laughs and takes the shirt away from Chloe. "Is there a trick for jeans?"

"Yeah but I think you might screw that up too. Just get the stuff from my closet."

Chloe walks towards Rachel's closet, and grabs a handful of Rachel's flannel and button up shirts. It hasn't occurred to Chloe that Rachel owns a bunch of flannel, but it doesn't surprise Chloe at all. Rachel is a lesbian anyway. She also grabs sweaters and casual dresses hanging up, and drops them on Rachel's bed.

Once Rachel finishes her last pair of sleep clothes, she scans the clothes that Chloe picked up, and gives Chloe about a few sweaters and one ugly dress, and starts folding. "I'm not taking those with me."

"I kinda like this cozy sweater," Chloe stares at the green sweater, admiring the wooly texture.

Rachel smiles. "You can have it if you want. It's too hot to be wearing it right now though."

"We're finally sharing clothes in this relationship?" Chloe jokes.

"You already wore a suit that I never really wear on my birthday date, so we already achieved that Price," Rachel points out.

"I forgot about that," Chloe admits. It's mostly because that was the night she got a call from her mom about David, but she really shouldn't. It was Rachel's birthday and it all went to shit, but before that they were having a blast. "But, you have to own something of mine. It's girlfriend etiquette."

"When I stay over, I can make my decision." Rachel smiles and kisses Chloe on the cheek. "Now, open my next drawer. It should have my socks and undershirts."

Chloe pulls out a bunch of paired socks and undershirts. Chloe notices how colorful they are as opposed to the plain ones Chloe herself wears regularly. "I still have your suit though."

"You can keep it," Rachel insists. "I was never gonna wear it. It makes me look silly but it looks so much better on you."

"Who got that for you, if they know you're not gonna wear it?"

"I stole the shirt from my mom and she hasn't noticed, and the pants was brought only to be worn at a business party my dad dragged me to," Rachel explains, stuffing her suitcase with socks and undershirts. "I used to like the shirt but it made me look silly every time I wore it so I kept it in my closet collecting dust."

"Well, at least it looks good on me," Chloe replies. It's probably the nicest thing she owns in her closet.

After that, they both keep packing in shared silence until Chloe comes across Rachel's underwear drawer. "Rachel's underwear drawer. Let's see if you're a hipster or a thong type of girl." Rachel rolls her eyes while Chloe pulls out several panties from her drawer. "Hm. _Definitely_ thongs. That doesn't surprise me."

"The only time I force myself to wear panties is when i'm on my period," Rachel shrugs. "Otherwise, it's about the ass floss."

Chloe smirks wildly, but keeps her dirty thoughts to a minimum. They've only been dating for two months for fuck's sake; they don't need to go any further than making out...yet. "That's good to know."

"What about you, Chloe? Boxers or briefs?"

Chloe laughs. "So you just assume I wear boys underwear?"

Rachel raises a brow. "So you _don't_ wear boys underwear."

"I do, but...honestly, I will never understand how observant you are." Rachel starts laughing, while Chloe starts blushing. "It's both by the way. Boxers provide more space when needed and briefs are...hella."

"They're hella," Rachel repeats.

"Yeah, that's right, _hella,_ " Chloe says confidently.

"I'm done packing," Rachel announces. Chloe look at the suitcase, and it looks like it won't close properly without one of them sitting on top of it. "Ok, sit on it and I'll zip it close. I'll worry about accessories in these outside pockets."

Chloe gets on the bed, closes the suitcase, and sits on it. Rachel grabs the zipper from the other side and struggles with the zipper for a little before zipping it closed. She grabs her lock and locks the zippers together. Then Rachel lays back on her bed while Chloe gets up and drags the suitcase off the bed and onto the floor. "That was a lot of work."

"I'm just ready to go back to school and away from my dad, even if it's a few miles away," Rachel says. "It's been a quiet summer. Aside from the whole maternity bullshit, my parents...fucked off. It isn't what I wanted but...after what my dad did, I can't forgive him. I even questioned if my birthday is really my birthday at one point."

"Really?"

"My dad lied to me about my mother. It wouldn't surprise me if he lied to me about other things, like my birthday. It could've been August 23rd for all we know. But, I checked my birth certificate and that's...probably all the proof I need."

Chloe shakes her head. "It still pisses me off how he couldn't tell you everything instead of hearing it from your biological mother. You would think he'd stop lying after the way you reacted before he told you about her, but he continued to withhold information. When my mom withheld information, it wasn't for long. She told me about David as soon as they started getting serious."

"My dad's different. He doesn't like to think before he acts. Just look at the way he handled Sera's situation. I could've went my entire life thinking Rose was my mother, if he kept on lying and sneaking around...or succeeded in killing Sera."

"It just seems all sorts of fucked up to me," Chloe mumbles. "But at least Sera's trying."

"It's gonna take me a while to accept and forgive, but i'm so glad we confronted Sera," Rachel admits. "I'm gonna send her my P.O. box as soon as I find out what it is. I would love to read her letters."

"Can I say one thing, Rach? I just...it's so weird how much she looks like you," Chloe says. "You two could be twins. Like, when I met Rose, you two didn't look like each other at all but then I meet Sera and it's practically Rachel Amber 2.0."

Rachel laughs. "Ok, Chloe, we get it. I'm my mother's daughter." It gets silent for a few minutes. "If we ever become parents in the future, whether together or apart, I hope we aren't as shitty as my dad, or David."

"You'll be having the children if we're together though," Chloe jokes. "Someone's gotta keep the good looks train going, and it ain't me."

"Shut up!" Rachel laughs. "You're beautiful, Chloe. Especially with that blue hair."

"But you're better looking," Chloe replies. "And that's the truth, Amber. Don't even argue with me on that."

Rachel chuckles. "Regardless, I love you and your good looks."

* * *

It's a busy weekend at the Two Whales Diner when Chloe decides to go over and visit her mom. There are so many guests looking for seats and the like, and Chloe knows exactly that her mother cannot be bothered during her shift. However, she wanted pancakes (yeah, at two in the afternoon) and Rachel is currently packing another bag full of shoes so after passing her permit test that morning Chloe mostly cleaned around her room and wrote in her journal before coming here.

"Chloe! Glad you're here!" her mother sighs in relief. "I think I may have a job offer for you...if you want it."

"Depends, am I cleaning bathrooms?" Chloe asks.

"No, definitely not. The last dishwasher quit and I remember that conversation about looking for a job, so I figured you can start here and work your way up working somewhere else when you're eighteen. I still have to follow child labor laws and only let you work when the sun shines but I think you'd appreciate it."

Chloe grins. "Definitely. When do I start?"

"Now, because we're swarming with customers. Apparently there's some visitors coming here? I don't know...I don't have time to ask."

"You got it." Chloe grabs an apron and heads to the back, where the kitchen area is busy with other workers running up and down to distribute clean/dirty dishes and food. She can smell the pancakes. Her stomach growls, but she ignores it in hopes that she will get a free meal by the end of this.

Dishwashing is one of the dirtiest jobs imaginable, but it's a lot better than cleaning bathrooms. Most of the time, Chloe touches wet, uneaten food and it is not the best of feelings. Sometimes people yell around her and it isn't a fun sensation. However, as soon as six rolls in, Chloe is hanging up her apron and her mom is handing her a plate of pancakes for her hard work. "Thanks, mom."

"You're welcome." Her mother kisses Chloe on the forehead and goes back to work. Chloe almost shovels down her long awaited pancakes up until she sees her friend Steph make her way towards the counter. Chloe keeps eating but hopes that Steph turns his head here to see Chloe's new hair.

Eventually her mother points over to her and seeing the surprise on Steph's face is almost satisfying. "Get your ass over here, Stephanie."

"Chloe, your hair…"

"Yeah, I went through a bit of a metamorphosis recently," Chloe shrugs. "So, what brings you to the Two Whales Diner?"

"Your mom makes the best food in Arcadia Bay," Steph replies. "Plus, my aunt made me come here on a food run. She owns the tattoo shop down the street."

Chloe widens her eyes. "Really? For how long?"

"She's owned it for a while now," Steph answers. "She used to work at an old one miles from here but it closed down and she invested in one in Arcadia Bay. I kinda wanna work there so I usually hang out there watching her...but she says I gotta go to school for it."

Chloe smirks. "You'd make a badass tattoo artist."

"You too," Steph smirks back. "Victoria took pictures of your graffiti in the bathroom before Wells painted it over and I thought it was hella sick. I think you'd be great at it...unless you wanna do something else."

"I haven't thought about anything else, really," Chloe says. She had this conversation with her psychologist already and it's probably the only career choice Chloe believes she wouldn't totally screw up in, other than mechanic. "I'll come back to you in a couple years."

Her mother comes back carrying a couple takeout plates. "Here you go, Stephanie."

"Thanks, Joyce," Steph smiles. "I'll see you later, Che."

"Bye!" Chloe waves.

Once her mother finishes her shift, Chloe starts to get up, but she receives a short pain on her heels. "Fuck!"

"Next time, wear comfortable shoes," her mother says, smirking. "Come on, darling. Let's go elevate your virgin feet."

"Mom," Chloe groans as they leave the restaurant.


	17. Week 16

The summer is now to a close for Chloe. She really enjoyed this summer instead of brooding in her room and self medicating, while having casual hookups with boys, including Elliot. She isn't going to address Elliot's weirdness, because she rather not do it. She enters her therapist's office, hoping to address what happened last week, like packing with Rachel and her job offer. She also took her permit test the day after her first shift at her mom's restaurant, and isn't surprised when she passes it with flying colors. It was relatively easy, considering that she's been driving without a license all summer, and her late father taught her how to drive since she was old enough to know the difference between a regular battery and a car battery.

"I got a job at my mom's restaurant this weekend," Chloe announces. "It was a tough four hours and my feet are still kinda hurting me, but I think I'll be fine. I can start saving up to finally get out of Arcadia Hell by the time Rachel graduates school and I get my GED."

"What are you doing?"

"Washing dishes," Chloe replies. "It's funny, I wash dishes at my house and at a restaurant. Now my hands will be twice as dry, even though they supply everyone with gloves. I think it's a good start towards saving up, and also getting some work experience. School starts at around six, and I have four hour shifts on Friday to Sunday, same time during the lunch rush...and driving class is twice a week with some designated driving time up to sixty hours, and I only come here on Mondays for an hour...in the morning."

"You sure you can handle all of that? It's not that I don't believe you can, it's just—"

"I get it," Chloe assures. "Trust me, I'm having doubts myself on whether I should take so much responsibility, but there are some things that aren't gonna last long. I'm definitely not gonna be in driving school forever, no matter how much Spongebob Squarepants can convince me otherwise, and night school won't take forever either. Plus, I have time in between. I can get some of my driving in, but I need an adult and an insured car, both are things that neither me nor my mother have."

Chris nods. "Ok, I just want you to understand about managing time, because it seems like a lot in theory."

"I know. I'm just gonna see where all of this takes me. If it's too much I have to sacrifice something, and it's not going to be our sessions. I've come too far to leave. I know I have to leave you soon, but it's not going to be now." It stays quiet for a few seconds until Chloe speaks again. "I also spent a good while packing with Rachel. She's still going to Blackwell and she opted to live on campus when she first attended so that's good for her, just to get away from her dad for a couple months. She's also gonna try to contact her birth mom."

"Oh? You two found her?"

"Yeah, her name is Sera Gearhardt," Chloe replies. "She's a spitting image of Rachel in so many ways. She used to be a drug addict, but she's been sober for a year and she's gonna try to have a relationship with Rachel. I hope it works out for the both of them. Everyone deserves one parent or adult in their life they can trust."

"I agree," Chris grins. "It seems like my philosophies are rubbing on you."

Chloe laughs heartily. "I guess it is."

Chloe drives all the way to Rachel's house and loads all of Rachel's stuff (which wasn't much) inside her truck. She definitely wants Rachel to get there in one piece, and Rachel's already rushing her so that she can avoid her father, who doesn't acknowledge Chloe when she walks in and heads upstairs to get Rachel's stuff. Rachel exhales in relief as soon as she enters the passenger seat in Chloe's truck. "I thought he would lash out again."

"Nah, I think he knows better," Chloe assures. "Plus, you're going back to Blackhell for another year of bullshit. You can't miss that."

"Yeah, but you are. It's not gonna be the same anymore. You'll be busy with work, driving school, therapy, and night school and I'll be at that damn school, pretending I give a fuck about anyone there. We will barely see each other."

"It won't be too bad. We have the holidays to see each other," Chloe says back. "And you have two more years of this shit. Consider it two years closer to getting out of here. And...you can always visit me and my mom. You know she loves you."

"Thanks, Chloe," Rachel grins.

They stop talking so that Chloe can focus on getting to Blackwell in one piece. However, two blocks away from the school, the car immediately stops. "What the hell?" Chloe raises an eyebrow. "I just filled the tank with gas a few hours ago." She tries to restart it but the ignition practically gives up. "Fuck!"

"It's ok, Chloe," Rachel says. "We're like...two blocks away and I don't have much stuff. We can push the car over there."

"Fine, you swerve, I'll push." Chloe exits the car while Rachel slides over to the driver's seat. Chloe takes a deep breath and tries pushing the car but it barely moves an inch before Chloe's arms start hurting. "Rachel, I can't do this."

"Should we call a tow truck?"

"Bad idea, the car's uninsured and I only have my permit," Chloe answers. "Maybe we should both push to see if it would work."

Rachel joins Chloe and tries pushing the car. It's a lot more doable but it takes almost forever to get to the front of the school. Chloe knows she cannot park in the front of school because it will get towed, so they turn the car more towards the parking lot. When they park the car, the last thing they want to do is unload the car. "That...was fucking hard," Rachel pants.

"That's...what she said," Chloe responds. Rachel gives her a harsh glare. "Oh, come on. I was joking!"

"Your car broke down at such an inconvenient time," Rachel sighs. "Now I don't feel like doing anything. I don't necessarily have to move in now anyway."

"Yeah, but better now than never," Chloe says back.

"Let's sit down inside the car for now. We got time."

However it takes up the entire day. Chloe is ready to go and unload Rachel's stuff until she finds Rachel sleeping. Knowing she isn't busy with anything else today, she lets Rachel sleep and then falls asleep herself. Chloe wakes up and the sun is in a different setting, while Rachel wakes up at the same time and asks what time is it. Chloe checks her phone momentarily. "It's four o'clock," she replies.

"Ok, let's move in." Chloe grabs a suitcase and some portable furniture and Rachel grabs another suitcase, with a laptop sling and they head to the second floor of the Prescott dormitory. Rachel's dorm is right by the exit so it doesn't take them forever to find the dorm. Rachel sets her stuff down and heads down to get more stuff, while Chloe stays in, knowing there isn't much for her to carry. If she cared about her education and if her mom wasn't poor, she would've been in the dorms, probably living next to Rachel or maybe two doors down. It would've been fun to live in the same building as Rachel before they live on their own. They can easily sneak off to each other's dorms with ease, despite the 'curfew' the school sets. They can have movie nights and indie music mornings, ignoring the cries from their pissy neighbors about the music being too loud. Maybe they will retouch Chloe's hair in the communal bathroom despite it being hella weird and having people look at them weirdly. They can easily walk to class together; just meet each other by the dorm room and just walk, take in the beautiful nature of Blackwell and not give a shit. They can skip class and take a mental health day, but in actuality they're at the dorm hallways, messing up other people's bulletin boards and pranking people they don't like, or each other.

There are a lot of possibilities they can do to pass the time at this school, but Chloe hates this place and she wouldn't force herself to convince any school administrator to come back here.

"Chloe,' Rachel calls out.

"Oh, hey, I just zoned out a little."

"I noticed," Rachel replies, laughing. "Let's unpack some stuff and then go outside."

It's a quiet unpacking for the most part. All Rachel had were pictures of her and Chloe, some posters, desk supplies, and a laptop to set up. The bed is easy...mostly everything else is easy. Rachel leaves the clothes for another day and pulls Chloe out of the dorms. Most of the students have already finished packing so they're hanging around, ready for another semester at Blackhell. Chloe is more than grateful that she doesn't have to attend class anymore, especially with their shitty faculty and even shittier students. She's gonna miss skipping class, and that's the only thing she'll miss. Well, maybe also Skip saving her from certain situations all year and also for being one of the very few adults in Chloe's life that didn't look at her as a delinquent.

"It's been real, Blackhell," Chloe says to herself.

"You know, you can always convince Principal Wells to let you attend again," Rachel suggests.

"And waste even more money we don't have? I'm glad this small ass town has more than one school," Chloe replies.

Rachel laughs. "Oh, I'm gonna go talk to my drama professor over there. Talk to you later?"

"Ok," Chloe replies.

Rachel kisses Chloe shortly — "Thanks for your help today." — and runs towards her drama teacher, who is currently waving her over. Chloe is now alone - aside from Steph, she never made friends here and she'll be damned to make friends here now that she's attending another school. She does take the time to look around before she goes home. She'll be on campus a few times to visit Rachel but now she won't have to attend school here, and that is a relief. She spies Victoria texting on her phone and decides why not when she approaches the busy teen. "Victoria!"

"What do you want, Chloe?" Victoria sneers.

"You finally got my name right!" Chloe says sarcastically, and sits right next to Victoria. "Aside from our animosity, Vic, how was your summer? Did you and Twitch have the time of your life?"

Victoria raises an eyebrow. "I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or if you're just genuinely concerned."

"Let's call it, making conversation," Chloe explains shortly. "I'm sure your reputation won't go down a few notches if you talk to me, huh? Now, did you and Nathan have fun being rich bitches all summer? Did you count money together? Snarl at a homeless person?"

"No, but I did manage to see you and Rachel more than once. You two still a thing?"

"Of course! Why, you jealous?" Chloe says back, smirking. "You should consider flying out that closet, Chase. That closet gets really dark, but still manages to stay transparent with you."

"I'm not a lesbian," Victoria mumbles.

"Okay, sure," Chloe chuckles. "You're not making it easier for yourself, you know that, right? I've suspected you for months, Vic."

Victoria scoffs. "You don't even know me, Price."

Chloe shrugs. "I don't have to, Chase. You won't even open yourself to make me know you. And even if you do, we don't like each other. You're always a bitch to everyone, including your friend Taylor. At least when I'm a bitch, I have a valid reason to. You're a bitch because you think everyone is beneath you. Well, that's not the case here. You're just as shitty as everyone else in Arcadia Bay. It's about time you realize it and reconsider your attitude."

Victoria snorts. "Sure."

Chloe gives Victoria a sympathetic look. "It must suck to be mean all the time."

"For the record, I'm not an ass to all my friends," Victoria replies. "And if this is some weird way to drop the charges against me and become acquaintances, you're truly as weird as I suspected."

Chloe frowns a little. "Now, why wouldn't you want that?"

"I drugged your girlfriend's tea. And yet, I haven't gotten a punch in the face."

"Because I realize that it isn't worth it. I hate bullies, but I'm not gonna stoop to a lower level to prove a point. It's just tea, and it's just a play. I'm very sure Rachel's gonna keep usurping main roles away from you anyway."

"Ok, Aesop Price," Victoria rolls her eyes, but Chloe can see a bit of a smirk on her lips. "You can go now."

"Bye Sticky Vicky!" Chloe gets up and walks away from Victoria, who glares at her. She walks around for a little bit, until she sees Steph at the picnic table they first interacted at. "Stephanie. How's my fellow lesbian?"

"I'm bored as hell, Price," Steph replies. "So, you really not coming back here?"

"Sadly no," Chloe answers. "I gotta say, you're not the only one saddened by my expulsion. Rachel's still saying she's gonna miss me, even though I don't live that far."

"You two are dating, so of course she's gonna miss you. Not attending the same school, or at least having one attend school is the equivalence of being miles away from each other. But, I think you two can make it work."

"Thanks, Steph," Chloe smiles. "I thought you would be mad at me, since you're into Rachel…"

"Don't worry about me, Chloe. I'm glad that you two found each other. I don't even think I would have anything in common with her anyway."

"Shit man, I really hope you find your princess charming," Chloe replies, half-serious.

"Probably not in this school but I'll try," Steph shrugs. "Oh, and both Mikey and Drew are doing alright. Drew healed for the most part but he can't play ever again to prevent further injury. He's going to school on a different scholarship. It's a good thing he had good grades despite being an athlete...and Mikey's already starting school. I hope he finds some cool ass people who likes tabletop games."

"Same," Chloe agrees. "Anyway, I'm gonna head out. I only came here to help Rach move in anyway."

"Next time you come here, I'll have a game ready for you," Steph calls out when Chloe starts walking away.

"I'll prepare the snacks!" She says back, and turns around to head towards the exit. There's no need to get her truck since it isn't working anymore. She should find a mechanic to look at it...but not now.

As Chloe leaves the campus, she sees Samantha sitting right next to Nathan, and they seem way more than friendly. She snorts to herself and descends the stairs. She faces the school, raises both of her middle fingers towards it, and heads towards the direction of her home.


End file.
